Antisemitic graffiti scrawled on a wall in Liverpool, England. Photo: CST.

Antisemitic incidents rose precipitously in the UK during 2019, the annual report of the Jewish community’s main security agency disclosed on Thursday.

Figures compiled by the Community Security Trust (CST) — which monitors antisemitism and provides protection for the Jewish community — recorded 1,805 incidents last year, the highest number ever logged in a calendar year and a 7% increase on 2018.

The 2019 data marked the fourth consecutive year in a row that witnessed a climb in the number of antisemitic attacks in Britain. It was also the second year in a row in which over 100 antisemitic incidents were recorded each month, the CST said in a statement.

A significant number of incidents targeting Jews were sparked by the ongoing row over antisemitism in the opposition Labour Party.

“In total in 2019, CST recorded 224 antisemitic incidents in which the offender or offenders, or the abuse they expressed, were related to the Labour Party, or in which antisemitism was expressed in the context of arguments about alleged antisemitism in the Labour Party,” the CST said.

The largest single contributor to the overall increase was an 82 percent rise in online antisemitic incidents, from 384 in 2018 to 697 last year.

There were 158 violent assaults, a 25 percent increase on the previous year, and 88 incidents of damage and desecration to Jewish property recorded.

Almost half of the violent assaults were in three areas: Barnet and Hackney in London, and Salford in the northwest of England.

Commenting on the latest report, CST Chief Executive David Delew noted that 2019 had been “another difficult year” for the British Jewish community.

“It is no surprise that recorded antisemitic incidents reached yet another high,” Delew said. “It is clear that both social media and mainstream politics are places where antisemitism and racism need to be driven out, if things are to improve in the future.”

British Home Secretary Priti Patel expressed strong concern at the report’s findings.

“It’s appalling that we have seen another increase of sickening abuse against the Jewish community,” Patel declared on Thursday.

She added that she was “pushing for greater collaboration, both across government, policing, the courts and community groups, to remove this shameful stain on our society.”