The Hague-based Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, or
CIDI, recorded 171 incidents in 2014 compared to 100 in 2013, CIDI wrote in a
statement sent to the media on Wednesday about the group’s annual report on antisemitism.
The statement noted “a worrisome phenomenon — Police officers’ failure
to intervene in cases of evident antisemitism. Some police officer prefers to
look the other way.”
A woman who wanted to report an antisemitic threat after hosting a party
was questioned about whether she had permission to hold the party, CIDI wrote.
“The filing of a complaint was sometimes discouraged in contrast with
the policy that indeed seeks to enhance reporting,” according to the report.
CIDI also said the severity of the incidents increased. Those who wore
kippahs or other Jewish symbols on the street accounted for a large portion of
the overall number of victims of antisemitic harassment or attacks last year,
according to the statement.
The prevalence of incidents in which individuals were harassed on the
street because they were perceived as Jewish rose by 90 percent in 2014 over
the previous year, to 40 incidents from 21. Incidents in which people were
physically assaulted in antisemitic attacks doubled to six from three.
Approximately half of all incidents occurred last summer during Israel’s
war with Hamas in Gaza.
“The serious increase of the number of antisemitic incidents in 2014
worsened the feeling of insecurity within the Jewish community, especially in
view of the May 2014 attack on the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels and the
threat of returning jihadists,” CIDI wrote.
