The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an NGO that aims to combat anti-Semitism, has released this week its annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents report, according to which the total amount of incidents in the U.S. in 2013 decreased by 19% since 2012 despite the uptick in the number of violent incidents.

In a press release by the ADL, Abraham Foxman, the organization’s national director, attributed the decline to the Jews finally “finding full acceptance in society.”

He added that “it is a reflection of how much progress our country has made in shunning bigotry and hatred.”

In 2013 there were a total of 751 anti-Semitic incidents across the U.S. compared to 927 in 2012. However, 31 of those incidents in 2013 were violent in nature compared to just 17 in 2012.

“The high number of violent in-your-face assaults is a sobering reminder that, despite the overall decline in anti-Semitic incidents, there is still a subset of Americans who are deeply infected with anti-Semitism and who feel emboldened enough to act out their bigotry,” explained Mr. Foxman.

New York State witnessed the highest number of incidents of any state this year with 203.

(Aliza Levine – YWN)