Three arson attacks on Jewish sites in less than a week mark a grave escalation. Only last month, four Hatzola ambulances were firebombed; this itself followed the deadly terror attack on Heaton Park synagogue on Yom Kippur, alongside years of hate marches and a steady drumbeat of abuse across professional bodies, trade unions and university campuses.
As the Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, has warned, “A sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum,” which he described as “an attack on the values that bind us all together” and a dangerous moment for all of society.
After each such incident come the customary declarations from our political leaders that antisemitism has supposedly no place in Britain, when the evidence plainly demonstrates the contrary.
The prime minister’s condemnations and promises of additional funding for the Community Security Trust are of course welcome. It is the heroic work of the CST and its volunteer security officers that make community life possible. We must also acknowledge the considerable counter-terror resources the government is investing in the protection of the Jewish community as well as the efforts of the police. The Met has considerably stepped up patrols and deployed additional officers.
But physical protection, while necessary and appreciated, is insufficient. We must address the root causes – a task the government has, for various reasons, neglected.
These root causes are neither obscure nor novel. They include Islamist networks radicalising segments of Britain’s Muslims, particularly vulnerable young people. Equally concerning is hostile foreign interference fuelling incitement and terror on British streets. Despite clear evidence of IRGC plots and campaign promises to proscribe the Islamic Republic’s terror arm, this government has still not acted, even after the EU finally moved to designate it. It is inexplicable that Labour, which seeks ever closer cooperation with Europe across a range of policies, should choose to stand apart on such a critical matter of national security.
Then there is the relentless demonisation of Israel, which animates many of today’s attacks on Britain’s Jewish community. In some instances, this government has indirectly lent credence to such anti-Israel sentiments by treating the country as a pariah – curbing arms exports, excluding Israel from defence forums, and recognising a Palestinian state in the aftermath of the October 7 atrocities without preconditions, not even the release of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas at the time. These actions, whatever their stated intent, send a signal that Israel stands outside the norms of international conduct – a message that emboldens those who would target Jews at home.
The notion that one can combat antisemitism without addressing its modern manifestation is illusory. This is not a question of shielding Israel from criticism, nor of demanding unqualified support for its government. It is a matter of confronting demonstrable falsehoods and resisting the normalisation of hateful, eliminationist rhetoric against the Jewish state that spills over into intimidation and violence at home. These lies not only undermine a critical ally and an important relationship for Britain’s own national security; they also threaten the safety of the Jewish community in this country.
As Jonathan Hall KC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, has observed, while no one can say for certain that any particular protest or march has led to a specific attack, “hatred in the public sphere towards Jews has made them more acceptable as a target for terrorism”.
Antisemitism is fundamentally at odds with British values, Nigel Farage writes in these pages, a sentiment certainly shared across the political spectrum and the British public.
There is no doubt that a silent majority is disgusted by what is happening to the Jewish community. What is lacking is political leadership capable of giving that majority a voice amid this climate of anti-Israel intimidation and vilification. Not everything is a matter of legislation.
The prime minister has both the authority and the duty to shape the tone of national debate.
He must make clear that hatred of Israel and its supporters, whether Jewish or not, is unacceptable – and help shift the boundaries of what is permissible in public discourse.
What is now required is not another round of formal condemnations, but action equal to the moment – a willingness to speak plainly, act decisively, and restore confidence in the principles that bind this country together.
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