(JTA) — A new United Kingdom government report showed significant progress being made in combating anti-Semitism.
The “Government Action on Anti-Semitism” report, published Monday by the Department for Communities and Local Government, noted advances despite a surge of incidents this summer during Israel’s military operation in Gaza. In July and August, there were 543 anti-Semitic incidents in the U.K., more than the entire previous year. Incidents included physical assaults, vandalism and graffiti.
The report, which notes that anti-Semitism in the U.K. is lower than in every other Western European country, recommends subsidizing extra security measures at Jewish schools and implementing a “zero tolerance” approach to online hate crime, according to the Daily Express.
Eric Pickles, the U.K.’s Communities and Local Government secretary, told the Daily Express that new measures to stamp out anti-Semitism on university campuses will be introduced and that the nation’s schoolchildren will be taught about the Holocaust. Pickles said the public needs to be reassured that hate crime offenders will be punished.
The report also documents anti-Semitism on the Internet and notes that a new committee, the Anti-Cyberhate Working Group, is working to counter the trend.
Vivian Wineman, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told the Daily Express that his group is “reassured to see the advances being made to address a number of issues and by the government’s positive attitude generally.”
