When Manchester, England, tragically joined the growing list of cities scarred by anti-Jewish violence on a recent Thursday, it sent shockwaves of sadness and concern through Britain’s Jewish community. This attack served as a stark reminder that antisemitism, already a growing threat, had taken a deadlier turn in the country.
Similar to other nations across Europe and the United States, Britain has experienced a significant increase in antisemitic incidents over the past two years, following the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians and the subsequent Israeli military response in Gaza.
While there hadn’t been recent targeted violence at British synagogues, Jewish individuals and places of worship have, unfortunately, been targets in several thwarted terrorist plots over the last decade.
“We haven’t had an incident like this here,” noted David Feldman, co-director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism in London. “This is, in the most literal sense, extraordinary.”
This recent attack is expected to escalate the ongoing debate in Britain surrounding the conflict in Gaza, a conflict that has already fueled a worldwide surge in antisemitism and a strong global reaction against Israel.
Reports of a man ramming his vehicle and stabbing worshippers outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation were profoundly disturbing. The incident echoed tragic events like the attack in Boulder last June during a rally for Hamas-held hostages, and the deadly shooting of two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington just two months prior.
Later that Thursday, Professor Feldman expressed caution about directly linking the increase in antisemitic incidents to this specific attack, which resulted in two deaths and four injuries, without full knowledge of the assailant’s identity or motive (who was killed by the police). However, he predicted it would deeply affect the Jewish community in unforeseeable ways.
“It clearly shifts the horizon of possibility,” Professor Feldman stated. “How the Jewish people will process that remains to be seen. What one can say with most confidence is that Jewish people will process it in different ways, because the British Jewish population is more divided than it has ever been.”
In the immediate aftermath, a pervasive sense of fear and sorrow enveloped synagogues and Jewish community centers nationwide. Police were deployed to guard these locations, with a noticeable presence at the entrance of JW3, a prominent Jewish center in North London, where officers were observed conversing with a rabbi.
The Community Security Trust, a UK charity dedicated to monitoring antisemitism and collaborating with authorities on security for Jewish institutions, issued a warning against gathering outside communal buildings and advised synagogues to remain closed at all times.
The Trust has consistently raised concerns about escalating antisemitism, documenting 1,521 antisemitic acts from January to June this year. These incidents ranged from physical assaults and property damage to graffiti, online harassment, and three instances categorized as “extreme violence.” This figure represents the second-highest number of anti-Jewish incidents the group has ever recorded in Britain.
The peak of such incidents — 2,019 cases — occurred in the first half of 2024, directly following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which claimed approximately 1,200 lives. Israel’s subsequent military actions in Gaza have since resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, a significant number of whom were civilians.
On Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged the surge in antisemitism, stating after an emergency cabinet meeting, “We must be clear it is a hatred that is rising once again, and Britain must defeat it once again.”
Even prior to Thursday’s assault, the tense climate in Britain had reportedly instilled a deep fear of everyday violence among many Jewish individuals, according to some commentators.
“I’ve witnessed in the past few years friends who are Jewish who are genuinely concerned about their own safety, concerned about their children going on the tube, concerned about their elderly parents on public transport, and I think it’s a reflection of how society has become so visceral and venal,” remarked Eric Pickles, a Conservative member of the House of Lords and Britain’s special envoy for post-Holocaust issues, during an interview with Times Radio.
London, mirroring other European capitals, has seen extensive, generally peaceful weekly demonstrations against Israel’s military operations in Gaza, which have led to a worsening humanitarian crisis. Alongside these, there have been occasional, smaller pro-Israel rallies.
However, the dynamics of protest have grown complex. The British government recently designated Palestine Action, a prominent pro-Palestinian organization, as a terrorist group after some of its members breached a Royal Air Force base, defacing aircraft engines with red paint and damaging planes with crowbars.
Last September, London police arrested over 800 demonstrators protesting in solidarity with Palestine Action. While most arrests were for displaying placards endorsing the group, a few individuals also faced charges of assaulting police.
Mr. Starmer recently declared Britain’s recognition of a Palestinian state, aligning with France, Canada, Australia, and Portugal. He explained that this decision was driven by the “utterly intolerable” humanitarian crisis in Gaza, hoping it could aid in salvaging the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Britain has imposed sanctions on two far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, Itamar Ben-Gvir (security minister) and Bezalel Smotrich (finance minister). Additionally, the UK has partially halted its weapon exports to Israel.
Despite these actions, Mr. Starmer has been pressed by members of his Labour Party for even tougher stances against Israel. Critics have pointed out that his pledge to recognize a Palestinian state was conditional, unlike France’s, and questioned his reluctance to impose a complete ban on arms sales, especially given that Britain continues to provide components for F-35 fighter jets used by the Israeli Air Force in Gaza.
While shouts of “Genocide!” have resonated from Labour backbenchers in Parliament, the government has refrained from officially accusing the Israeli government of genocide in its handling of the Gaza conflict.
According to Mr. Feldman, the distressing images emerging from Gaza have also created divisions within Britain’s Jewish community. Recent surveys, he noted, suggest a declining popularity of “the Zionist idea” among British Jews, especially among the younger generation.
The Runnymede Trust, a British social justice think tank, highlighted in a recent report that the existing strategies for safeguarding Jews from hate crimes in Britain are proving ineffective. The report suggested these approaches might inadvertently worsen societal tensions by fostering a belief among other communities that they do not receive the same level of protection.
Addressing the British Jewish community, Mr. Starmer declared: “I promise you that over the coming days, you will see the other Britain, the Britain of compassion, of decency, of love. And I promise you that this Britain will come together to wrap our arms around your community and show you that Britain is a place where you and your family are safe, secure and belong.”
The Prime Minister, whose wife is Jewish, clearly hopes his message will provide solace. However, as the assailant’s background is scrutinized and motives are unraveled in the coming days, the Manchester attack could very well intensify the heated global debate surrounding the Middle East conflict and its far-reaching, divisive impacts.
Megan Specia and Lizzie Dearden contributed reporting