Anti-Semitic incidents soared by 57 percent in 2017, Jewish watchdog says

 The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. last year surged by 57 percent, according to data released on Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League. It is the highest tally that the Jewish civil rights group has counted in more than two decades.

The New York City-based organization found 1,986 anti-Semitic incidents last year, up from 1,267 in 2016. That's the highest total since 1994 and the largest single-year increase since the group began collecting this data in 1979.

The ADL said the sharp rise includes 952 vandalism incidents, an increase of 86 percent from 2016. The group also counted 1,015 incidents of harassment, including 163 bomb threats against Jewish institutions.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL's national director and CEO, said the "alarming" increase appears to be fueled by emboldened far-right extremists as well as the "divisive state of our national discourse."

 Source : nbcnews