Following Hamas’s terror attack on Israel, the UK experienced its highest levels of anti-Semitism in 40 years, with the Community Security Trust (CST) reporting an unprecedented 4,103 instances of anti-Jewish hate across the country. According to the CST, they observed a spike in antisemitic incidents in the immediate aftermath of the attack, with a total of 2,699 incidents (66 percent) occurring on or after the day of the terror attack itself, marking a significant increase in anti-Semitism perpetrated following Hamas’ massacre.
Of the total for the year, 1,774 (43 percent) of incidents were Israel or Palestine related, and the charity said this was a 621 percent rise from the 246 such cases in 2022 when there was no significant trigger event in the Middle East. A further 2,185 incidents were not included in the report’s statistics, as they were not deemed to be anti-Semitic, including criminal activity affecting Jewish people and anti-Israel activity that did not include anti-Semitic motives or language.
In terms of sources of the incident reporting, the police contributed the highest proportion of reports, followed by witnesses and CST staff.
Home Secretary James Cleverly, who recently met with the CST, said the government had taken “strong steps” to confront anti-Semitism, including increasing funding for security at synagogues and Jewish schools.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement, “The appalling and intolerable rise in anti-Semitism we have seen over recent months is a stain on our society and we must never relent in our work to root it out.” She made the remarks after reports of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks by two Labour candidates surfaced.