TEL AVIV, Israel — Violent attacks on Jews dropped for a second straight year in 2016, but other forms of anti-Semitism are on the rise worldwide, particularly on U.S. university campuses, according to a report released Sunday.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University said assaults specifically targeting Jews, vandalism and other violent incidents fell 12 percent last year. They recorded 361 cases compared to 410 in 2015, which had already been the lowest number in a decade. The figure reported Sunday is the lowest since 2003, when 360 incidents were recorded.
The report attributed much of the drop to increased security measures in European countries including France, where there were 15 attacks compared to 72 in the previous year, and the United Kingdom, where the number of incidents fell from 62 to 43.
Another reason for the decreased violence may be that far-right groups in Europe appear to be focusing their attacks on migrants who have reached the continent in large numbers over the last years, said Dina Porat, a historian who leads the team of researchers behind the report.
“Fears that the influx of Muslim refugees from the Middle East would lead to an increase in anti-Semitism appear so far to have been unjustified,” Porat said.
While Islamic extremists are often involved in attacks on Jews, the perpetrators are usually second or third generation immigrants who have been radicalized at home in Europe or during trips to territories held by the Islamic State group, she said.
Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry releases the report every year on the eve of Israel’s Holocaust memorial day, which begins Sunday at sundown.
