Illegal immigration drew hate groups' attention in 2006 as the number of
anti-Semitic incidents in the United States dropped for a second straight year, according to a report released Wednesday by a Jewish advocacy group.

The refocus by the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups onto Hispanics meant a drop in their activity against the Jewish community, with 77 reported incidents by hate groups last year, down from 112 in 2005.

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The national immigration debate caused extremist groups to partially refocus their energies away from their traditional objects of hate and onto other minority groups, particularly immigrants and Hispanics, said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, which issued the report. Muslims also continue to be a target of those groups.

"So while we find any downward trend in the numbers on anti-Semitism encouraging, there is no cause to celebrate just yet, Foxman added in a statement.

The report counted 1,554 anti-Semitic incidents across the country last year, down from 1,757 in 2005. The annual report tracks incidents against the Jewish community, individuals and institutions such as synagogues in 44 states and the District of Columbia, which includes Washington, D.C. The data comes from official crime statistics as well as information provided to ADL's regional offices by victims, law enforcement officers and community leaders.

Several violent attacks marked last year, however, including a shooting at a Jewish center in Seattle in July that killed the center's assistant director and wounded five. Witnesses said the shooter forced his way through a security door and said, "I am a Muslim American, angry at Israel," before shooting. Naveed Afzal Haq, 30, pleaded not guilty to aggravated first-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder and other charges.

In what the ADL described as other more troubling incidents of 2006, two Jewish men in Arizona were beaten by at least six people shouting anti-Semitic insults, and arson at the office of the Holocaust History Project in Houston caused more than $1 million in damage.

Synagogues remained a target in several cities, with spray-painted messages including swastikas, "Kill the Jews and Burn with the rest of them."

The report counted 669 incidents of vandalism, up from 617 from the year before, and 885 incidents of harassment - a category that also included threats and assaults - down from 1,140 in 2005.

ADL leaders also pointed to tighter security at Jewish institutions for the drop in incidents. "The installation of security cameras, round-the-clock surveillance, secure doors and other enhancements serves as a deterrent to vandalism and other acts of hate," Glen Levy, ADL's national chair, said in a statement.

The states with the most anti-Semitic incidents remained New York (284), New Jersey (244), California (204) and Florida (179).

Illegal immigration has emerged as a sensitive political issue in the United States. Several communities and states, accusing the U.S. government of inaction, have tried to tackle the problem themselves, from more intense cooperation with immigration officials to penalties against landlords who rent to illegal aliens. Civilian groups have made a show of patrolling the long, porous U.S.-Mexican border.