According to figures collected by the local Jewish community, incidents have risen to 562 during the first half of 2021, compared to 257 during the same period last year

The number of antisemitic incidents in Austria has more than doubled, according to the Jewish Community Vienna (IKG).

There were 562 antisemitic incidents during the first half of the year, compared to 257 in the same period in 2020, the IKG said Thursday.

“Since the beginning of the systematic recording of antisemitic incidents in Austria 20 years ago, the Jewish community has never been confronted with such a high number of reported incidents,” the IKG’s report said.

The verbal or physical attacks were largely associated with the pandemic and the Middle East conflict, the IKG said.

Most of the attacks involved “hurtful behavior” such as insults.
There were 58 cases of damage to property, such as antisemitic graffiti, along with 11 threats and eight physical attacks.

Most of the incidents were done by right-wing perpetrators, with Muslim involvement in 71 cases. Meanwhile, leftist motivations were assumed in 100 cases.

It was not possible to identify the motivation in a quarter of the incidents reported.

A far higher number of antisemitic attacks are thought to have gone unreported, as is the case worldwide, the IKG said.