The Chief Rabbi’s vision points the way forward to a hopeful future for our community in 2026

This was the first fatal antisemitic attack in Britain for decades. As many observed at the time, it came as a shock but not a surprise: the ancient hatred has surged since October 7, and there was a hideous sense of near-inevitability to the murders which took place on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

Now, after the Chanukah massacre at Bondi Beach and the revelations from the trial in Preston of men who were found guilty of plotting to murder hundreds of Jews, there appears to be further confirmation of our worst fears.

Across the globe, extremists who subscribe to an ideology of hate are almost certainly planning further atrocities.

In the UK, the authorities seem to have belatedly woken up to the danger, or are at least paying greater heed to the concerns of the community: as evidence, there is the crackdown by some police forces on the bloodthirsty chant ‘Globalise the intifada’.

Yet, though the assertions of horror at antisemitism are no doubt sincere, all too often the government seems to be oblivious to the dangers of extremists who threaten the Jewish community and all of Britain.

In the latest extraordinary case, the Prime Minister declared he was “delighted” to welcome to the UK a British-Egyptian national, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who had been jailed by the Egyptian government.

Online searches quickly revealed a plethora of deeply disturbing statements by this man, revealing him to be an extremist who once called for “all Zionists” to be killed.

Amid the furious political backtracking, it should be noted that the previous, Conservative government had also lobbied for el-Fattah’s release.

This is a man who it has now emerged once called for violence against the police.

It is a salutary case of the dangers of misguided good intentions and a disregard for the safety of the Jewish community and Britain as a whole.

The failure to acknowledge and confront the dangers of extremism, particularly in its Islamist form, goes beyond any one political party. It is systemic denial across arms of government and the authorities.

As a starting point for a remedy, the Government can do no better than to heed the words of Rabbi Mirvis.

While voicing his belief in the future of the community in the UK, the Chief Rabbi has also warned that “hate speech can very quickly become hate crime”.

He was speaking after his return from Sydney, where he met survivors of the attack and heard tales of extraordinary resilience and bravery, heroism that saved further lives being claimed by the terrorists.

Rabbi Mirvis is optimistic, but also candid and clear: more must be done to address concerns of safety and security.

That surely means denying extremism the oxygen of legitimacy and shutting down all forms of antisemitism: a zero tolerance approach for Jew-hate of every variety, including rhetoric concealed as “anti-Zionism”.

Do that, and in 2026 we can look towards the successful future for the Jewish community envisioned by Rabbi Mirvis, in a society where moderation and reason once more thrive.