The grave of Ben Zygier. Photo: Facebook.

JNS.org – The Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s annual report showed that the total number of reported anti-Semitic incidents in Australia in 2012 was the highest ever on record.

There were 657 reports of violence directed at Australian Jews, a 21-percent increase over the previous year. But the number of serious physical attacks was the lowest since 2005.

The case of Melbourne-born Mossad agent Ben Zygier, also known as “Prisoner X,” who committed suicide in 2010, triggered old anti-Semitic stereotypes about Jewish disloyalty, the report said.

“To suggest that this tragedy was brought on by inherent conflicts of loyalty and identity casts dangerous and unwarranted aspersions on the entire Jewish community,” said Zionist Federation of Australia President Philip Chester.

The recent attack on five Jews walking home after Shabbat dinner at Bondi Beach will be featured in next year’s report.