The first six months of this year saw record levels of antisemitism and a 491 per cent surge in school-related cases, new data has shown.

Cases were driven largely by a spike in May during the Israel-Gaza conflict, according to a new report released on Thursday by the Community Security Trust.

Overall, the report paints a grim picture, with the highest ever number of antisemitic incidents recorded by the charity during the January to June period -  at 1,308.  

Cases involving schools, students and teachers rose to 130 in the first half of 2021, compared to 22 cases during the same period last year.

Most (80) were recorded across non-faith schools, up 62 per cent year on year. Twenty-one cases involved Jewish schools while another 84 were university-related. 

CST Chief Executive Mark Gardner said that levels of hatred were “worse than anything seen in recent decades” and added that cases involving younger victims were “disgraceful.”

Lord John Mann, the government’s antisemitism adviser, sought to reassure parents as he vowed to continue to “work tirelessly” against antisemitism.  

Most school-related cases (92) took place in May, coinciding with the easing of lockdown restrictions the previous month and the 11-day war between Israel and Gaza.

This reflects overall trends, with 49 per cent of all incidents this year occuring in May. 

May’s total rose to 639 cases and remains the CST’S the highest ever monthly figure. 

It tops the combined totals for July and August 2014, a period which saw renewed hostilities between Israel and Gaza and communal fears over surging antisemitism.

The CST said it was possible the loosening of restrictions together with May’s 11-day war “provided people with a potential release from months of lockdown-induced frustration.”

“These factors may have fed into the extent of the rise in antisemitic incident reports during this period,” the charity added. 

There were 89 violent incidents, representing a 68 per cent increase year on year. Most were assaults but two involved “extreme violence”.

There were also 56 incidents related to damage or desecration to Jewish property.

Eighty-five were direct antisemitic threats while another five were mass-mailed antisemitic leaflets or emails. 

Cases were recorded in all but four police regions but remained largely concentrated in London (748) and Manchester (181). 

Online incidents dipped slightly but remained high at 355 - the charity’s second highest half-year tally

DCC Mark Hamilton, the National Policing Lead for hate crime, described the findings as “shocking but sadly not surprising as we saw a similar response in 2014.”

He praised the CST as an “invaluable ally of the police at a local and national level”. 

“We will continue to work closely with the CST in the future, to ensure that the UK is a safe place for Jewish communities to live,” he said.

Mr Gardner vowed to “keep doing everything that we can to protect our Jewish communities, and to give them the security and comfort that they need.”