Violent attacks on British Jews at record level

There were 547 "anti-Semitic race hate incidents" - defined as malicious acts toward the Jewish community - in 2007, according to the Community Security Trust.

Of these, 114 involved physical violence - the highest number since the trust began its records in 1984.

However, the total number of incidents has decreased by 8 per cent from last year, when 594 race hate incidents against Jewish people were reported.

The trust said the overall drop in incidents could be explained by a lack of "trigger events" such as the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006, which led to the highest ever recorded level of anti-Semitic incidents.

But it warned that the number of incidents has been rising since the late 1990s.

Incidents reported in 2007 included one life-threatening assault, 328 incidents of abusive behaviour and 62 acts of damage and desecration of property.

The CST is a charity set up to ensure the safety of Jewish communities in the UK.

Spokesman Mark Gardner said: "The fall in the number of anti-Semitic incidents is very welcome, but is less than we had hoped for.

"2007 was still the second worst year on record and the worst ever for violent assaults.

"Over the past decade there has been a significant rise in the basic level of anti-Semitic incidents in our society, and it is affecting the lives of far too many British Jews."

A Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "While we welcome the fall in the overall number of anti-Semitic incidents in 2007, the wider findings from the Community Security Trust's report are of concern to the Government and serve as a reminder to us all that we still have more to do to eradicate anti-Semitism from our society.

"Anti-Semitism must be understood for what it is - and condemned. It should be dealt with promptly and effectively through the law.

"We have one of the strongest legal frameworks in the world to protect people from discrimination or persecution on the grounds of their faith or race, and this was strengthened by the introduction of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act last year.

"In addition, later this year we will be updating on the Government's progress on responding to the all-party inquiry into anti-Semitism."