Violence Against Jews Rose Last Year in US, Germany

WASHINGTON - The number of violent attacks against Jews in the U.S. and Germany rose last year even while anti-Jewish violent incidents decreased elsewhere around the world amid the coronavirus pandemic, an Israeli academic research group reported on Wednesday.

In its annual report, the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University identified 119 anti-Jewish violent incidents in the United States last year, up from 111 in 2019. The U.S., home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, has seen a steady rise in anti-Semitic violence in recent years. About 4.2 million American adults identify as Jewish “by religion,” representing 1.8% of the U.S. adult population, according to a 2013 Pew Research estimate. A more inclusive estimate by the American Jewish Year Book in 2019 put the number at 6.9 million. In Germany, with a Jewish population of more than 100,000 Jews, the Kantor Center received reports of 59 violent incidents targeting Jews last year, up from 41 in 2019. The total number of anti-Semitic incidents in German rose by 12% last year, according to the report.