Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman has been accused of suggesting Donald Trump's election victory was part of a "Jewish conspiracy", despite a sharp rise in anti-Semitic attacks over the past year.

Maria Zakharova said Jewish people in New York had told her they had mainly supported the Republican nominee, adding that American Jews were the best guide to US politics.

"I have a lot of friends and acquaintances there, of course I was interested to find out: how are the elections going, what are the American people's expectations?" she said on a Russian chat show, recalling a visit to New York with an official Russian delegation in September.

"If you want to know what will happen in America, who do you need to talk to? You have to talk to the Jews, of course. It goes without saying," Ms Zakharova said, drawing applause from the TV studio audience.

Trying to imitate a Jewish accent, she said Jewish people had told her: "'Marochka, understand this - we'll donate to Clinton, of course. But we'll give the Republicans twice that amount.' Enough said! That settled it for me - the picture was clear.

"If you want to know the future, don't read the mainstream newspapers - our people in Brighton [Beach] will tell you everything," she said, referring to a Brooklyn area that is home to a large number of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

Her comments echoed the conspiracy theory that rich New York Jews controlled US politics.

Roman Dobrokhotov, Russian opposition activist, said the spokeswoman had "explained Trump's victory as a Jewish conspiracy".

Michael McFaul, the former US ambassador to Moscow, wrote on Facebook: "Wow. And this is the woman who criticises me for not being diplomatic."

The election year saw a surge in cases of anti-Semitism. Jewish journalists were targeted and longstanding anti-Jewish conspiracy theories were revived.

Last week, the day after the election, a Philadelphia storefront was sprayed with a swastika and the words "Sieg Heil 2106," which means "Hail Victory," a common Nazi chant, and the word "Trump," with a swastika replacing the "T."

During the election campaign, Jews started seeing their names bracketed with a series of parentheses in harassing tweets, signalling that the person had been identified as a Jew. The image became known as the Jewish cowbell and its source was traced to neo-Nazis and white nationalists.

Much of the bias came from the alt-right, or alternative right, a loose group often associated with far right efforts to preserve "white identity," oppose multiculturalism and defend "Western values."

Mr Trump's campaign came under scrutiny since much of the harassment came from accounts tied to his supporters.

The Republican nominee drew direct criticism last July when he tweeted an image of Hillary Clinton's face with a six-pointed star, a pile of hundred dollar bills and the words "most corrupt candidate ever."

The star was in the shape of the Jewish Star of David and was widely condemned as anti-Semitic. Mr Trump's campaign said it was a sheriff's badge.

The president-elect's daughter Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who is now one of his top advisers, are Orthodox Jews. Mr Kushner has defended Mr Trump against allegations of bias.