The number of antisemitic incidents in Arizona more than doubled last year, says a new report by the Anti Defamation League.

The group draws a connection between the spike in hate, Congressman Paul Gosar and state Sen. Wendy Rogers.

The report from the ADL counted 56 incidents of anti-Jewish harassment and vandalism in Arizona in 2021. The state saw 23 antisemitic incidents in 2020. 

ADL Regional Director Tammy Gillies said the spike was driven by antisemitic rhetoric from elected officials.

“This encourages others and so I believe that there is definitely a cause and effect there,” said Gillies.

The ADL has said Rogers has appeared on an anti-Jewish streaming platform.

She and Gosar have been sympathetic to a white supremacist.

The ADL has also urged Gosar to retract false claims about a 2017 rally by far-right extremists in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The report says acts of hate against Jewish people hit a record high in the United States last year. But the roughly 145% spike in antisemitic incidents in Arizona was much higher than the national percentage increase.

“The leaders in communities, the presidents of universities, they need to stand up and say this is not acceptable in Arizona, period,” said Gillies. 

ADL data show the last time the yearly count of antisemitic incidents in Arizona fell was in 2019.