Jews are the victims of more than one in five hate crimes related to religion in the U.K. , the highest percentage ever recorded, The Jewish Chronicle reported citing statistics from the Home Office, the Interior ministry.
The statistics show that there were 1,288 offences against Jews in which their perceived religion was recorded as relevant to the case in England and Wales, the paper wrote speaking of a ‘’disturbing rise over the past few years.’’
The figures amount to 22 per cent of the total for the 12 months up to March this year, making Jews the second largest group.
In 2019, Jews were targeted in 18 per cent of religious hate crime, in 1,326 incidents.
Recent antisemitic incidents include violent assaults on Orthodox Jews in north London and offences related to pro-Palestinian protests during the Gaza conflict in May.
The Muslim community suffered 2,703 offences over the year up March, amounting to 45 per cent of the total, the greatest share of any of the nine religions recorded.
That was the first year in which the Home Office provided a breakdown by religion in this statistical format.