The number of religion-based hate crimes against Jews in England and Wales nearly doubled last year, according to a government report.The data from a Home Office report published this week lists 1,326 antisemitic incidents in 2018, or 18 percent of the overall number of hate crimes — almost twice as many as the 672 anti-Semitic incidents recorded in the previous year.The overall number of religion-oriented hate crimes rose by 31%, to 7,446 from 5,680, the Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2018-19 report shows. The proportion of anti-Semitic attacks also climbed 12 percent from 2017. console.log("catid body is "+catID);if(catID==120){document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}else if(catID!=69 && catID!=2){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','60fd6becf6393400049e6535'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }Muslims were the most targeted group in both years: The overall number of anti-Muslim attacks rose to 3,530 from 2,965, though the proportion dropped to 47 percent from 52 percent.After Muslims, Jews were the most-often targeted group in both years.The Home Office classifies hate crimes against Muslims and Jews as being based on their religion rather than ethnicity.Muslims account for about 5 percent of the population in the United Kingdom, according to the Office for National Statistics, while Jews constitute about half a percent.In both years, the combined number of attacks on Christians, Sikhs and Hindus was smaller than the tally of anti-Semitic attacks. The report includes other forms of hate crimes, including those based on race and sexual orientation. The total number of all hate crimes recorded in 2018 was 103,379, a 17 percent rise over 2017.