Jews in the United Kingdom were victims of a record number of hate crimes last year, says a newly released report by the Jewish community’s defense organization, the Community Security Trust (cst).

“Anti-Semitic hate crime levels have doubled in the last 10 years,” said cst spokesman Mark Gardner. “This is unacceptable racism that many Jews had hoped and believed was a thing of the past.”

In 2006, cst catalogued 594 anti-Semitic incidents committed in the UK, representing a 31 percent increase over 2005. The 594 incidents were comprised of 112 violent assaults, 70 attacks on Jewish property, 365 occurrences of abusive behavior, and 27 threats. Crimes in each category represented at least a 34 percent increase over 2005—apart from threats, which were up by 8 percent; attacks on Jewish property were up an astounding 46 percent. Of the 594 anti-Semitic incidents, more than one in five occurred during the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Gardner warns, “Today’s anti-Semitism is a wave of hatred, intimidation and abuse against British Jews, who are stupidly blamed and randomly attacked over international tensions for which they bear no responsibility.”

Random the attacks may be, but the choice in victim is not. Such attacks demonstrate a noticeable shift of attitude within a country that has been an ally of Israel.

One powerful political player, London Mayor Ken Livingstone, was caught making a derogatory remark comparing a Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard. Such behavior from British political elite, compounded by the sheer volume and unprecedented rise in attacks on Jews, is a worrisome indicator of a dangerous trend. Ironically, however, biblical prophecy tells us that Britain and Israel face a common fate in the time ahead. To learn more about what that fate is, read our book The United States and Britain in Prophecy.