The attachment of British Jews to Israel has grown stronger since the October 7 Hamas attack three years ago but there has been no increase in engagement with community Jewish life, according to a new report.
While anecdotal evidence pointed to a rise in synagogue attendance here in the immediate aftermath of the atrocity, no longer-term change has taken place, said the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR).
JPR tracked the attitudes of more than 2,000 UK Jews from its research panel to analyse how they changed from 2022 to 2025.
Dr David Graham, author of October 8: The impact of October 7 on British Jewish identity, concluded there had been “a clear and sustained increase in attachment to Israel after October 7.
“This is evident not only in measures of emotional attachment, but also in the growing importance attached to supporting Israel, rising levels of Zionist identification, increased consideration of aliyah, and increased prioritisation of Israel-related charitable giving.”
Rather than weakening attachment to Israel, “the events of October 7 and its aftermath have strengthened it”. That came against a backdrop of “increased experiences of antisemitism, growing concern about antisemitism as a problem in the UK, declining feelings of safety, and higher levels of anxiety” among survey participants.
But while one USA survey in 2024 had found increased engagement by unaffiliated Jews with the Jewish community, Dr Graham said in the UK: “There was no measurable increase in synagogue attendance, no sign that previously unaffiliated Jews joined synagogues in significant numbers, and no evidence that existing members attended more frequently.
“And while feelings of attachment to the local Jewish community did rise following October 7, they were observed to fall back again subsequently, suggesting even this was a temporary phenomenon.”
Attachment to Israel rose from 70 per cent in November 2022 to 78 per cent in June 2025 among the sample.
But the most striking rise was among those who “very attached”, climbing from 38 per cent in May 2023 to 51 per cent in June 2025.
Overall, there was a 17 per cent swing towards greater attachment – with 24 per cent showing more and 7 per cent less.
Similarly, the number of people considering Israel to be an important part of their Jewish identity increased over time, from 63 per cent in November 2022 to 71 per cent in June, although it fell back to 69 per cent a year later.
Again, those for whom Israel was a “very important” part of their identity rose from 34 per cent in November 2022 to 48 per cent in June 2024 (falling back to 45 per cent in 2025).
The embrace of Israel was most apparent among United Synagogue members with a 24 per cent swing towards “very important” – compared to barely any increase among Liberal Judaism supporters.
There was a modest rise in identification with Zionism, up from 59 per cent in 2022 to 65 per cent in 2024.
On aliyah, participants were asked to rate the likelihood of making it over the next five years on a scale of 1 to 10. The average rose from 1.38 in 2022 to 1.95 in 2024 (although that was below the 2.29 figure of 2020 during the first year of Covid).
Meanwhile, those prioritising Israel for donations rose from 6 per cent before October 2023 to 11 per cent in 2024 and 16 per cent a year later. The data suggested that commitment to domestic Jewish charities did not drop (although the research did not measure amounts).
The percentage considering antisemitism to be a “very big problem” in the UK leapt three-fold from 17 per cent in May 2023 to 50 per cent last year.
The belief that antisemitism became more of a problem after October 7 was shared across the political spectrum – with the exception of Green Party supporters, who were as half as likely to see it as a problem than they did before.
In May 2023, when people were asked how safe they felt in the UK on a scale of 1 to 10, the average was 7.4, but the following year it fell to 6.2 and further to 5.8 in 2025.
In the months after October 7, a stronger attachment o the Jewish community emerged, up from 64 per cent in November 22 to 71 per cent in summer 2024, although this slipped to 67 per cent the following year.
Those going to shul most Shabbatot rose from 26 per cent in 2022 to 28 per cent in 2024 but fell back to 27 per cent a year later, while the rate for monthly attenders remained stable throughout the period, at 16 per cent.
JPR’s executive director Dr Jonathan Boyd commented, "Since October 7, many have spoken about the emergence of the 'October 8 Jew' and a wider Jewish ‘surge’ – the idea that previously disengaged Jews reconnected with their Judaism, returned to communal life and experienced a broader Jewish awakening.
“This unique study suggests a more nuanced reality. Three years on, there is little evidence of a broad-based revival in religiosity, synagogue engagement or Jewish practice. What changed most was attachment to Israel, solidarity with other Jews.” He added that “troublingly, feelings of vulnerability, anxiety and insecurity in Britain” had also grown.
What it showed was “not really a story about Jewish revival” he said. “It is a story about a community drawing closer together under pressure. British Jews emerged from October 7 more united and more connected to Israel, but not fundamentally transformed. This solidarity has endured, but solidarity forged in crisis should not be mistaken for renewal.”
While resilience was “enormously valuable”, he said, “resilience alone cannot secure the future of Jewish life. For community leaders, the challenge now is to turn solidarity into sustained engagement and flourishing.”
The findings were also “a reminder that the impact of antisemitism is not measured solely by the number of incidents recorded. Over time, insecurity can erode a minority's confidence in its place in society. The challenge is not only to keep Jews safe, but to rebuild their confidence in Britain's future."
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