A/74/253 have drawn attention to the issue of anti-Semitism, and have contributed to an increased number of anti-Semitic incidents by emboldening offenders. 20 41. A common challenge in Eastern Europe is the lack of reliable data on anti-Semitic violence. Some data show a decrease in anti-Semitic incidents across Eastern Europe. In Hungary, anti-Semitic violence against Jewish individuals and property has decreased since 2014. Seventeen per cent of Hungarian Jews reported receiving threatening and anti-Semitic comments in 2018, a 10 per cent decrease from the 27 per cent of respondents who reported such comments in 2012. 21 The Russian Federation also shows a significant decrease in the occurrence of right-wing and neo-Nazi violence since 2012. 22 In particular, the incidents of racist and neo-Nazi attacks against Jews have decreased since 2007 in the Russian Federation. 23 Despite this apparent decrease in reported anti-Semitic incidents, the political climate is increasingly conducive to the growing acceptance of anti-Semitism in the public sphere. As seen elsewhere in Europe in 2018, the Russian Federation harbours the conditions for a potential resurgence of anti-Semitic crime. In addition, official statistics often suggest lower numbers of incidents than those recorded by non governmental organizations, which provide mechanisms for victims to report incidents directly online. 42. In the United States, hate crimes based on race or ethnicity accounted for 60 per cent of total hate crimes recorded in 2017. Religious-based hate crime comprised about 20 per cent of the total incidents. 24 Jewish people and institutions were most frequently targeted, constituting about 58 per cent of religious-based hate crime incidents. 25 A statistic released by a civil society organization revealed an alarming increase of anti-Semitic incidents in 2018, the third-highest year on record since the organization started tracking the data in the 1970s. 26 This includes a mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that resulted in 11 murders. Although most of these crimes in the United States were not committed by extremists, the statistics corroborate connections between the rise of extremist movements in the country and a spike in anti-Semitic crime. Known extremist groups or individuals inspired by extremist ideology were responsible for 249 anti-Semitic incidents in 2018, accounting for 13 per cent of total incidents – the highest level of __________________ 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 12/19 Ibid., p. 4. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Experiences and perceptions of antisemitism, p. 51. Natalia Yudina and Vera Alperovich, “The ultra-right shrugged: xenophobia and radical nationalism in Russia, and efforts to counteract them in 2013” (2014), available at www.sovacenter.ru/en/xenophobia/reports-analyses/2014/03/d29236/; ibid., “Calm before the storm? Xenophobia and radical nationalism in Russia, and efforts to counteract them in 2014” (2015), available at www.sova-center.ru/en/xenophobia/reports-analyses/2015/04/d31818/; ibid., “The ultra-right movement under pressure: xenophobia and radical nationalism in Russia, and efforts to counteract them in 2015” (2016), available at www.sova-center.ru/en/xenophobia/reportsanalyses/2016/04/d34247/; ibid., “Old problems and new alliances: xenophobia and radical nationalism in Russia, and efforts to counteract them in 2016” (2017), available at www.sovacenter.ru/en/xenophobia/reports-analyses/2017/05/d36995/; Natalia Yudina, “Xenophobia in figures: hate crime in Russia and efforts to counteract it in 2017” (2018), available at www.sovacenter.ru/en/xenophobia/reports-analyses/2018/02/d38830/#_Toc379209516; ibid., “Far right and arithmetic: hate crime in Russia and efforts to counteract it in 2018” (2019), available at www.sova-center.ru/en/xenophobia/reports-analyses/2019/02/d40603/. Ibid. Federal Bureau of Investigation, “2017 hate crime statistics”. Available at https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2017. Ibid. ADL, “Anti-Semitic incidents remained at near-historic levels in 2018; assaults against Jews more than doubled”, 30 April 2019. Available at www.adl.org/news/press-releases/anti-semiticincidents-remained-at-near-historic-levels-in-2018-assaults. 19-12969