Following Thursday’s release of its annual figures, the UK’s Community Security Trust (CST) said there were now more than twice as many antisemitic incidents per month than four years ago, with the level of hatred eclipsing that seen during the Gaza War in 2014.
While charity bosses said incidents were now far more likely to be reported, they were nevertheless left shocked by the huge and sustained increase, with 1,309 incidents reported last year – the highest on record.
This compares to 960 incidents in 2015 and 1,182 the year before, when Israel launched military action against militant groups in the Gaza Strip, provoking a strong backlash against Jewish communities across the world, something the charity called
a “trigger event”.
CST chief executive David Delew said: “While Jewish life in this country remains overwhelmingly positive, this heightened level of antisemitism is deeply worrying and it appears to be getting worse… Some people clearly feel more confident to express their antisemitism publicly than they did in the past.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan reacted to the report saying: “This significant rise in deplorable hate crimes against Jewish Londoners is shocking and deeply concerning. Any type of antisemitic offence is unacceptable in our city.
Dr Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress, said: “These findings are a shocking reminder that the things we value in our society – tolerance and being understanding of the beliefs of others – are in danger of slipping out of our grasp.”
It is deeply worrying that in modern Britain, Jewish people cannot go about their normal daily business without the threat of being verbally or physically attacked in the street, simply because of their religion.”
