A protester who called for Zionists to “be put down” was spared charges after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) judged the threat to be a non-criminal “political” statement, the JC can reveal.
The decision has been condemned as apparently making calls for violence against supporters of Israel “acceptable”.
One MP warned of the danger of giving a “green light” to antisemites.
This is only the latest in a series of troubling cases that have raised deep concern over the failure to prosecute alleged offences affecting the Jewish community.
A JC investigation has uncovered ten examples that call into question the judgment and competence of prosecutors faced with allegations of offences related to antisemitism.
Jewish leaders have now warned of “systemic failure” at the CPS, while Labour and Conservative parliamentarians called for urgent change in response to the “worrying findings”.
Former attorney general Sir Michael Ellis has proposed the establishment of a specialist antisemitism unit at the service, an idea supported by other politicians.
The protester was filmed at a demonstration in Swiss Cottage, north London in November 2024, calling Zionists “terminally deranged”, describing Zionism as a “sickness” and saying it was “incurable so they just need to be put down”.
The Metropolitan Police submitted a file but prosecutors concluded the remarks did not meet the threshold for criminality.
The alleged victim asserted their right to review, but the CPS upheld the decision, writing back in October 2025 that the remarks were an expression of “political ideology” rather than a criminal call to violence.
The review was in any event completed after the statutory time limit for pursuing a public order offence had expired. No such time limit exists for racially aggravated cases.
This is just one of multiple cases found by the JC to be falling into a pattern of serious allegations resulting in no charges, downgraded offences or prosecutions collapsing before court.
Join the JC for an exclusive discussion on law, policing and Jews in the UK. With former attorney general Sir Michael Ellis; Labour MP and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism Joani Reid; and Jewish Leadership Council head of legal David Toube. Moderated by JC political correspondent Lorin Bell-Cross. Scroll to bottom for link[Missing Credit]
Writing for this newspaper, Sir Michael, former Conservative MP and attorney general under the previous government, warns that “failings and flaws have infected the CPS”. He proposes the creation of a CPS Antisemitism Unit to independently review allegations of anti-Jewish racism.
Labour MP Joani Reid, chair of the al-party parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, endorsed the proposal, telling the JC: “There is a crisis in British public life which consists of well-meaning people believing the lies of hardcore antisemites that they are only protesting against or speaking out over Israeli government policy when what they really seek is to drive Jews out of public life.
“Of course protesting, even in the strongest terms, against Israeli policy is completely legitimate. But threatening Jews, via the code word of ‘Zionist’, with murder is not.
“Public authorities need to understand this and act on it. That’s why I think the idea of the CPS assembling a specialist team to tackle antisemitism makes a lot of sense.”
The UK independent reviewer of terror legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, has warned that anti-Israel activism is being used as “a vehicle for hatred of Jews” and said it must be treated as such under the law.
He noted that racial hatred is defined as “hatred against a group of persons defined by reference to colour, race, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins.
“If you don’t deal with anti-Israeli hatred, you leave wriggle room for those who indulge in antisemitism but formally disavow it. Once hatred to Israelis is tolerated then it is carried around like a flame.”
David Toube, Head of Legal at the Jewish Leadership Council, told the JC: “The distressing pattern now emerging points to a systemic failure by the CPS to confront antisemitic crime.
“As Jonathan Hall KC has warned, anti-Israel and anti-Zionist activism is increasingly being used as a vehicle for hatred and incitement, with serious and increasingly deadly consequences for British Jews.
“When prosecutors treat explicit calls to violence against ‘Zionists’ as acceptable political expression, allow cases to fail through delay, or fail even to inform victims that prosecutions have been dropped, the conclusion is unavoidable: there is either a profound lack of understanding of the nature of contemporary antisemitism, or an unwillingness to act on the evidence.
“The CPS must urgently build its expertise, reverse its timidity, and enforce the law effectively. Anything less than this leaves Jewish communities exposed.”
Opposition frontbenchers have voiced their concern about the performance of the CPS, amid a climate of growing worry over the failure of the authorities to confront extremism.
Recently appointed Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy MP said: “The police and CPS have failed too many times to prosecute people for antisemitic crimes. The law should be enforced, and enforced equally. But as we saw with the West Midlands Police scandal, too many public authorities bow before extremism and the politics of communalism.”
Shadow Attorney General of England and Wales Lord Wolfson said: “The rule of law means not only that we are all subject to the law, but that we are all equally subject to the law. Once the law is applied in a different way to some groups, or not at all to other groups, we have moved from a society governed by law to a society governed by whoever shouts the loudest. And that is not a society in which many would want to live.”
Labour supporters of Israel have urged prosecutors to address the failings and ensure successful prosecution of any instances of “Jew-hate”.
Chair of Labour Friends of Israel Mark Sewards MP said: “The JC investigation contains some extremely worrying findings. The failure to pursue and charge those who peddle hate and incitement denies justice to victims and sends a perverse message to the police and a green light to antisemites.”
Lionel Idan, Hate Crime lead for the CPS said in a statement: “There is no place in society for attacks on people because of their race or faith, and we recognise the profound impact this offending has on victims and the wider community.
“Our most recent data shows that we are working on the highest-ever number of hate crime cases referred to us by police. Confronting antisemitic hate crime is a core part of that effort and our charge and conviction rates show that when these cases come to us, they result in real consequences. The law in this area can be complex and although it may appear at face value that a law has been broken, some offences are often context specific. Where the evidence does not initially meet the legal threshold for charging, we work closely with police to identify what steps can be taken.
“We acknowledge that we do not get everything right the first time, but we are determined to continue to work every day to improve outcomes.
“As well as regular engagement with Jewish community leaders, we have also responded to the government’s hate-crime review to identify where the law can be strengthened to enhance our ability to prosecute such hatred, deter offenders and achieve justice for victims.”
Join the JC for an exclusive discussion on law, policing and Jews in the UK. With former attorney general Sir Michael Ellis; Labour MP and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism Joani Reid; and Jewish Leadership Council head of legal David Toube. Moderated by JC political correspondent Lorin Bell-Cross. For details, click here
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