JEWS were targeted in Greater Manchester almost every second day in 2013, a new report claims.

The Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism, published its annual report today.

It said there were 172 reports of incidents in Greater Manchester in 2013 compared with 170 the previous year.

Across the UK, crime fell overall, with 529 incidents in 2012 compared with 649 in 2012.

That compares with 931 reports in 2009 – the highest annual total since CST began monitoring reports in 1984.

Of the 529 incidents last year, 69 were violent assaults, 49 were incidents of damage or descration of Jewish property and 368 were abusive behaviour, including 86 messages sent over the internet.

There were 38 direct anti-semitic threats and five cases where people sent anti-semitic leaflets to several addresses.

CST said the most common form of crime Jews faced in 2013 was random verbal abuse in the street.

There were 185 such reports and the victims were “visibly Jewish” at the time, the CST said.

CST spokesman Mark Gardner said: “Any fall in the number of antisemitic incidents that take place is to be welcomed, but we are always wary of reading too much into short-term trends as we know that the picture can change considerably from year to year.”

He added: “Research suggests that about three in four antisemitic incidents go unreported.

“We encourage people to continue to report antisemitic incidents to CST and the police, so that we can give them the help they need, and can support the efforts of law enforcement to catch offenders and further reduce antisemitic incidents.”

Visit thecst.org.uk for more information.