Whenever there is conflict involving Israel in the Middle East, antisemitism in Britain increases. We have seen it repeatedly over the years, but it was impossible to prepare the Jewish community for what followed Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. The hatred did not wait for Israel’s military response. It was on our streets almost immediately, with London and Manchester awash with people celebrating these appalling atrocities.
The Community Security Trust, the organisation reporting to government on antisemitic hate crime, recorded 31 antisemitic incidents on 7 October itself. In the days that followed, the numbers surged. In the final months of 2023, British Jews were subjected to an unprecedented wave of abuse, threats, intimidation and attacks. Since then, that antisemitism has seeped into every part of British society, on our streets, online, at universities, in workplaces, schools and even the NHS.
CST recorded 4,103 antisemitic incidents in 2023, the highest annual total it had ever recorded. A staggering 2,699 of those occurred after 7 October. In 2024, there were another 3,528. And in the first six months of this year, there have been 1,926, almost double the monthly rate recorded before 7 October 2023.
Then, a year ago, came Yom Kippur. Two British Jews were murdered in cold blood outside the Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester. Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, an attack on people whose only crime was being Jewish and going to pray.
I remember thinking, surely this must be the line in the sand. How can things possibly get worse? This disgusting terrorist attack targeting innocent Jews at prayer would be the moment when the country finally said enough. As we approach the anniversary of that fateful day, the painful reality is that things have deteriorated further.
We have seen arson attacks against our institutions in London and a terrorist attack targeting Jewish people in Golders Green. On the other side of the world, the harrowing images of the Bondi Beach massacre remain etched in our consciousness.
As we approach the anniversary of Yom Kippur, counter-terrorism police have disrupted a suspected plot targeting the Jewish community in Manchester. This is not a standalone incident, as Greater Manchester Police were responsible for foiling an ISIS-style shooting attack perpetrated by two terrorists who lived in the Prime Minister’s constituency of Makerfield.
For British Jews, it feels relentless. That is why Government must now be prepared to confront not simply the symptoms, but the source of the problem. The answer cannot be higher walls and expanded security provisions. We need our politicians to be brave enough to call out Islamist extremism wherever it manifests itself, just as they must confront neo-Nazism and all those with malign intentions towards my community.
And that means being prepared to confront the environments in which hatred is preached and people are radicalised. If somebody is using a mosque or any other institution to preach overt, egregious antisemitism, hatred of Jews of a kind that would be immediately recognised as unacceptable if it came from a neo-Nazi, there must be consequences. It is about stopping those people who seek to convince others that Jews are legitimate targets.
It is about whether our political system has the courage to confront that hatred before it becomes violent. This is clearly not an abstract fear given what we are having to endure.
Our community is asking whether Britain will continue to be a country in which they can raise their children openly and live as proud British Jews. Many have left, and even more are considering their futures. That it has come to this is a national disgrace.
And yet, despite everything, we remain defiant. We still fill our synagogues and educate our children. We celebrate our festivals and build communities with phenomenal organisations. Importantly, we continue our immense contribution to the country we are proud to call home. We are resilient, but that should never become an excuse for inaction.
We will remember Melvin and Adrian and continue demanding that Britain confront the hatred that made their deaths possible. We cannot fight this battle alone; we need the solidarity and support of the whole country to stand alongside us during this tumultuous period, as antisemitism is the first sign that society is sick. People need to remember, what starts with the Jews, never ends with the Jews.