Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett has named the rise of the far-Right in various countries, the refugee crisis and the Internet as major factors spurring an increase of antisemitic incidents around the world, as he presented the annual antisemitism report to the government on Sunday.
In his opening comments, Bennett noted that while the number of violent antisemitic incidents recorded around the world decreased, the number of general antisemitic incidents had increased.
“Antisemitism is the dangerous fuel feeding our enemies for generations,” he said. “We must ensure every Jew in the world can live a safe and proud life.”
“Also in 2017, we saw a strong antisemitic presence online,” Bennett said. “Much of this discourse was related to the changes in governments around the world, the refugee crisis and the visibility of antisemitism in social media. We must act with all available tools against current antisemitism to ensure the security of the Jewish People, in Israel and the Diaspora.”
Presenting the report ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which will be marked on January 27, the ministry highlighted the record number of antisemitic incidents recorded in the UK in the first half of 2017 – there was a 78% increase in physical attacks and a 30% increase in the number of overall antisemitic incidents.
The ministry also flagged the rise of the far-Right in Germany and the influx of refugees to the country as factors that have negatively impacted the Jewish population.
Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, who attended the cabinet meeting, addressed the link between the far-Right and antisemitism, noting that 15 years ago he proposed a method to distinguish antisemitism from legitimate criticism of Israel among the Left, but today extremists from both sides of the political spectrum must be addressed.
“Today we are witnessing a new and alarming phenomenon: The rise and emboldenment of right-wing political parties in Europe that profess support for Israel while supporting such antisemitic measures as outlawing circumcision and kosher slaughter, as well as historical revisionism of World War II and the rehabilitation of Nazi soldiers,” he said. “On the one hand, they proclaim that they stand with Israel, while on the other hand, they target and harm Jews. We see this in Austria, for example, where the local Jewish community has announced that it will boycott the official Holocaust commemoration ceremony in Vienna if ministers from the far-right Freedom Party attend the event. I have counted at least seven such political parties across Europe.”
“We do not need and should not court such double-faced support, on either the Right or the Left,” Sharanksy said. “We must remain vigilant and not permit antisemitism to go without opposition and protest under the cover of convenient diplomatic stances or intercommunal bridge-building. I note both phenomena with alarm and demand that we do not play into the hands of antisemites, regardless of their political affiliations.”
The rise of the far-Right in the US was also flagged in the report, and specifically the violent “Unite the Right” rally, which was held in Charlottesville in August.
The report also noted that the “continued increase of hate discourse among radical left-wing movements, which is mainly felt on college campuses.”
Troubling statistics also emerged from Ukraine, with double the number of antisemitic incidents being recorded in comparison with the previous year, according to the report.
This included dozens of acts of vandalism against memorials, museums and synagogues.
Additional findings highlighted by the ministry were extracted from a PEW survey conducted in 18 Central and Eastern European countries and published in May 2017. The ministry emphasised that the survey had found that 20% of citizens of those countries aren’t willing to accepting Jews as fellow citizens and 26% would not want Jews as neighbors. Only 42% would be willing to accept Jews as family. The attitudes expressed toward Muslims and Roma, were more negative.
About 57% of respondents said they would be willing to accept Roma as fellow citizens, 37% would be willing to accept them as neighbors and only 19% as family members.
Meanwhile, 65% would accept Muslims as citizens, 55% would accept them as neighbours and 27% as family.
