A report on anti-Semitism presented to the Israeli government on Sunday found that France was the most dangerous country for Jews in the world in 2014, reports The Jerusalem Post.
During the past year, levels of anti-Semitism and violence against Jews in France reached new records, according to the report prepared by the Ministry of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs in cooperation with the Coordination Forum for Countering Antisemitsm (CFCA).
The report was presented to the government during the same week that the world marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Anti-Semitic incidents in France rose by 100 percent in the last year, with half of the racially related incidents in the country being directed at Jews, despite the fact that Jews make up less than one percent of the French population, the report found.
In addition, it was revealed that during 2014, there were 1,000 different anti-Semitic incidents in France, including dozens in which Jews were beaten or attacked.
In 2014, there was a significant rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the world, the report found, and during the July-August Gaza war, known as Operation Protective Edge, there was a 400 percent increase in such incidents compared to the same period in 2013.
Far-right elements continued to be central perpetrators of anti-Semitic acts, but most of the violent acts were carried out by Arab or Muslim individuals, the study concluded.
The report also highlighted the continued scourge of anti-Semitism on the internet, including the spreading of classical anti-Semitic conspiracy theories such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
The Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, Naftali Bennett, who presented the report to the government, said, "The old anti-Semitism, spouting the familiar stereotype of a global Jewish conspiracy, is being increasingly coupled with the campaign to delegitimize Israel."
“It is radical Islam which is acting as the bridge for these two racist beliefs. They’ll use any perverted excuse to further their goal which is the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people," Bennett said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that the governments of the world need to act with greater vigour against anti-Semitsm.