Israel Envoy Warns Britain Of Upsurge In Anti-semitism

LONDON, Aug 3 (AFP) - Israel's new ambassador in London warned in Tuesday's Times newspaper that Britain faces a serious problem in combating the rise in anti-Semitism.
"For me anti-Semitism is not a theoretical word," said Zvi Heifetz, who described how he had experienced the prejudice as a 14-year-old growing up in Riga in Latvia, then part of the Soviet Union.
"I think that the situation in Britain is better than in other European countries but judging by the number of anti-Semitic incidents in Britain, it is (still) quite worrying," he told The Times.
"Currently there is more than one anti-Semitic incident a day in Britain," he said. "That is a serious problem."
His comments follow a dispute in July between France and Israel over the increase in incidents against French Jews.
Statistics, confirmed by Scotland Yard, reveal that there has been a steady increase in attacks against Jews in Britain over the last decade, The Times said.
Last year there were 375 anti-Semitic incidents recorded.