The use of Nazism to attack Jews and Zionists in Britain is on the rise, according to a leading antisemitism watchdog.

A report published by the Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism in Britain, revealed an unprecedented level of Jew-hatred.

The growth of social media was having a clear impact on the spread of antisemitic discourse, threats and themes than ever before.

British Jews contacted the charity to say they felt the conflict in Gaza and between Israel and the Palestinians was “creating a climate of unusually heightened antipathy and hostility” towards the Jewish community.

CST’s report, Antisemitic Discourse in Britain, charted issues in 2014. CST said explicit Jew hatred – attacks on Jews simply for being Jewish – remained rare in British public life and within mainstream political and media discourse.

“Levels of antisemitic discourse are far harder to consistently observe and measure, than quantitative antisemitic incidents and hate crimes,” the report pointed out.

The charity highlighted the campaign against Britain’s youngest Jewish MP, Labour’s Luciana Berger, as an “extreme example of how one person can suffer repeated and targeted abuse”.

Cases of abuse elsewhere in politics, football and the media were also cited by CST.

But there was also praise for political leaders including David Cameron, Theresa May, Jim Murphy and Alex Salmond for challenging antisemitism and outlining efforts to combat hatred.