A large swastika mowed into a lawn in California, which drew outrage from local residents in June. Image by Getty

(JTA) – Anti-Semitic hate crimes increased by 21 percent in California in 2018 from the previous year.

A report issued on Tuesday by the California Department of Justice found that there were 126 hate crimes motivated by anti-Semitism in 2018, up from 104 incidents in 2017.

However, the report does not distinguish what kind of offense the crime was: the report says that an “offense” can be “murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, simple assault, intimidation, and destruction/vandalism.”

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A high of 160 anti-Semitic hate crimes were reported in 2009, according to the report. The report also noted that bias crimes related to religion fell slightly in 2018 versus 2017. The religion with the next highest incidence of hate-crimes were Muslims, with 28 incidents down from 46.

The ADL has found that the majority of anti-Semitic hate crimes in the U.S. have been committed by right-wing individuals.

However, FBI statistics have shown that most anti-Semitic incidents are non-violent, and frequently feature graffiti. Other minority groups, particularly Muslims and gay men, are much more likely to be assaulted in bias crimes against them.

Headlines about anti-Semitic incidents have given many Jews the impression that there is a rising tide of anti-Semitism in the U.S. Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn have seen the majority of violent anti-Semitic incidents in recent years.

Swastika graffiti is a significant driver of incidents in reports about anti-Semitism. Earlier this summer, a California man mowed a giant swastika into his lawn. (The man said it was in fact a Tibetan symbol, not a reference to Nazism.)

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