Violent attacks on Jews surge, CST six-month report reveals

Incidents affecting synagogues and congregants reached the highest ever level recorded for the first half of a year, raising by 31 per cent.

School-related antisemitism was documented at the highest levels seen in the first half of a year, with assaults on Jewish pupils and staff occurring at a higher rate than in any other setting, with school-related incidents rising by 59 per cent compared with the same period in 2025.

Antisemitic incident reports documented by the CST since 2016 (CST)[Missing Credit]

Minister for Policing and Crime Sarah Jones described the figures as "appalling" and pledged to "never stop fighting to rid society of this evil", pointing to the government's record £250 million boost to policing in Jewish neighbourhoods.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the levels of Jew-hatred were "completely unacceptable" and that "real action needs to be taken to stamp it out".

"This is a national emergency. We need to increase police presence, have urgent prosecutions, put a moratorium on marches, implement maximum sentencing and deterrence, conduct a comprehensive audit of counter-terrorism cases involving antisemitic motivation, and deport foreigners who express antisemitic views or support for violence or terrorism."

The government's independent adviser on antisemitism, Lord Mann, said the figures showed that anti-Jewish racism "continues to pose a significant threat to our democracy".

"It is especially concerning to see the nature of antisemitism in the UK becoming increasingly violent, from the stabbing of two British Jews in Golders Green, to a series of arson attacks against synagogues and Jewish-linked properties," he said.

The CST provides security for the Jewish community[Missing Credit]

CST chief executive Mark Gardner said: "These attacks are directed against British Jews but they are also attacks on Britain and our society. These attacks should concern everyone who cares about Britain and the threats against it, whether state-directed from Iran, or internally driven by Islamist, far Right, far Left, or other ideological extremes."

Among the incidents recorded was an attack on a visibly Jewish couple walking through a Manchester park. Seven teenage boys on bikes sped towards them "as if to run them over", attempted to pull off the woman's head covering and then pelted the couple with stones and branches.

The report highlights a series of arson and attempted arson attacks against synagogues and Jewish-linked property in London that it says "were almost certainly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps" and the subsequent in incidents in the immediate aftermath of these attacks.

On March 23, when four ambulances belonging to the Jewish emergency medical charity Hatzola were set ablaze, the CST recorded 25 antisemitic incidents on the same day, at the time the joint-highest daily total during the first half of the year. Following the attack, "BOYCOTT ISRAELI GOODS" stickers were found on Hatzola ambulances in Stamford Hill.

The aftermath of the arson attack on Hatzola Northwest in Golders Green in March (Photo: Getty)Getty Images

Arson incidents targeting Finchley Reform Synagogue, a former Jewish charity building in Hendon and Kenton United Synagogue were claimed by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), an organisation later proscribed by the government. A further arson attack took place at a disused synagogue in east London at the beginning of May.

The stabbing of two Jews in Golders Green on April 29 was followed by another sharp rise in Jew-hate, with 21 recorded incidents on the day, 24 the following day, and 26 on the day after that, the highest daily total during the last six months.

The increase in antisemitism following the attacks included outright celebration of violence against Jews, expressions of regret that more Jews had not been injured, allegations of Jewish control and manipulation of government, and this demonstrated how "anti-Jewish hate thrives when Jews are perceived to be vulnerable".

In the three weeks following the attempted arson attack on Finchley Reform Synagogue, the CST recorded 327 antisemitic incidents, an 83 per cent increase from the 179 incidents reported during the preceding three weeks.

The report says the combination of the synagogue attacks and the Golders Green stabbing in quick succession is likely to have contributed to the increase, and high-profile attacks on the Jewish community often embolden others to commit antisemitic acts.

The war in the Middle East continues to be used as a vehicle for antisemitism, with 41 per cent of antisemitic incidents with anti-Jewish language or the targeting of Jewish people also referencing Israel, Palestine, the Hamas terror attack or the ensuing war.

The CST records incidents equating Israel with Nazi Germany as antisemitic and says such comparisons have been made "with increasing regularity since October 7", reflecting changes in anti-Jewish language. There were 105 reports that included a direct comparison of Israel with Nazi Germany, and the term "Zionazi" has also become increasingly common.

“ALL ROADS LEAD TO THE JEWS” written on anti-immigration banner in Glasgow, June 2026 (CST)[Missing Credit]

The report recorded 676 incidents that had an "antizionist political motivation" extending beyond discussion of the conflict and accompanied by explicitly antisemitic comments or anti-Jewish abuse, and the terms "Zionist" or "Zionism" appeared in 204 incidents.

One banner documented in the report, unfurled outside Parliament, read: "End Zionism control of UK politics break the alliance with Israel."

The CST also found an increase in antisemitic conspiracy theories linked to the Middle East. Of incidents relating to Israel, 30 per cent contained at least one conspiracy theory, compared with 22 per cent during the same period in 2025. These included claims that Israel controlled politicians and world leaders, allegations that attacks on Jews were "false flag" Mossad operations, and conspiracy theories echoing the medieval blood libel by presenting the deaths of children in Gaza as evidence of Jewish lust for infant death.

Placard blaming Jews for killing Jesus, Cheshire, April 2026 (CST)[Missing Credit]

The report also documented an anti-immigration banner unfurled in Glasgow in June that carried the slogan: "all roads lead to the Jews". Other incidents included swastikas daubed on walls across the country. In Nottinghamshire in May, Nazi graffiti was accompanied by the words "f*** Jew", while a swastika on the fence of a Jewish residence in London in June was also marked "f*** you".

Elsewhere, in April, a children's playground in London was defaced with graffiti reading "dirty Jews".