Spike in antisemitism reports after synagogue attack

Reports of antisemitism incidents in the UK spiked after the deadly Manchester synagogue attack last year.

The volunteer-run Community Security Trust (CST), which provides security and monitors antisemitism in the UK, said 40 incidents were recorded on the day of the attack and 40 the day after - the highest daily totals of 2025.

Worshippers Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed on 2 October when Jihad Al-Shamie drove into the gates of the Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester and began attacking with a knife, while wearing a fake suicide belt.

The CST said more than half of the incidents it recorded across both days involved direct reactions to the attack, including celebrating it.

Of these 42 incidents, three involved "face-to-face taunting and celebration of the attack to Jewish people", and 39 took place online. These included antisemitic social media posts referencing the attack, abusive responses to public condemnations of the attack from Jewish organisations and individuals, or antagonistic emails sent to Jewish people and institutions.

The killings in Manchester were the first fatal antisemitic terror attack in the UK since the CST began recording incidents in 1984.

According to the CST report, there were 3,700 anti-Jewish hate incidents recorded in 2025, up 4% from 3,556 in 2024. Last year saw the second highest annual total ever, second only to 2023 when there were 4,298.

The total for 2023 included 416 incidents in the week following Hamas's 7 October attacks on Israel - a larger number than any subsequent week.

Though 2023 saw the highest total number of incidents, last year was the first time more than 200 cases of anti-Jewish hate were recorded in every calendar month.

Last year also saw the highest ever recorded number of cases of damage and desecration to Jewish property - including damage to the homes and vehicles of Jewish people and to synagogues.

There were 217 such incidents in 2025, up 38% from 157 in 2024.

CST chief executive Mark Gardner described the attack in Manchester as the culmination of "two years of intense anti-Jewish hatred".

He said: "The terror attack then triggered even more antisemitism, showing the depths of extremism faced by Jews and all our British society."

Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, the national policing lead for hate crime, said 2025 had seen "unacceptably high" levels of antisemitic hate.

He added: "The tensions that exist in our society have not abated and are both deeper and more long-standing than anything we have experienced in modern times."

The CST said there was also a spike in reports on the day of the Bondi Beach killings in Sydney in December, and on the two following days.

Of the 50 incidents across those three days, just under half (21) directly referenced the Bondi attack, the CST said.

Lord John Mann, the government's independent adviser on antisemitism, said it was "particularly troubling" to see the large number of incidents that had taken place immediately after the Manchester attack.

Overall, he said the latest figures were "deeply alarming and illustrate the unrelenting nature of antisemitism in our country today".

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the latest numbers were "shocking" and the government "stands against the scourge of antisemitism".

She added: "We are providing record funding for security at synagogues, Jewish schools and community centres. I will go further to strengthen police powers so they can crack down on intimidating protests."

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said while the figures were "appalling" they were "not a surprise" and said the "evil of antisemitism" must be called out.

He added: "Anyone espousing extremist views or who expresses support for terrorism, or racial or religious hatred of any kind, including antisemitism, who is not a British citizen, should be removed from this country."