Spike in antisemitic incidents in aftermath of Manchester synagogue attack

Dozens of antisemitic incidents were reported in the aftermath of the deadly Manchester synagogue attack, some celebrating what had happened, according to a report.

The Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism in the UK, said 40 were recorded on the day and a further 40 the day after – the highest daily totals of the year.

Worshippers Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed when 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie, a Syrian-born British citizen, drove into the gates of the Heaton Park Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, in October last year, and then began attacking with a knife, wearing a fake suicide belt.

It was the first fatal antisemitic terror attack in the UK since the CST began recording incidents in 1984.

Lord John Mann, the Government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, said it was “particularly troubling” to see the large number of incidents which took place “immediately after the horrific terrorist attack on Heaton Park Synagogue on Yom Kippur, celebrating the killing of British Jews on our streets”.

He said the latest figures overall were “deeply alarming and illustrate the unrelenting nature of antisemitism in our country today”.

The CST’s latest report, covering the 12 months of 2025, concluded the second-highest annual total ever recorded for anti-Jewish hate incidents, at 3,700 – up 4% on the 3,556 incidents recorded in 2024.

The annual record high remains at 4,298 antisemitic incidents reported in 2023 – the year of Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel which prompted a spike in recorded cases of anti-Jewish hate in the UK.

The 2025 report was also the first time more than 200 cases of anti-Jewish hate were recorded in every calendar month.

The CST said cases of damage and desecration to Jewish property – including damage to the homes and vehicles of Jewish people and to synagogues – reached the highest annual total ever recorded.

There were 217 such incidents in this category in 2025, up 38% from 157 the previous year.

Reports of abusive behaviour accounted for the majority (83% or 3,086 reports) of all cases of anti-Jewish hate, and were at their highest for any year aside from 2023.

Of the 80 antisemitic incidents recorded across October 2 – the day of the Manchester synagogue attack – and October 3 last year, more than half (53% or 42 incidents) involved direct reactions to it, the CST said.

The organisation said three involved “face-to-face taunting and celebration of the attack to Jewish people”, and 39 were antisemitic social media posts referencing the attack, abusive responses to public condemnations of the attack from Jewish organisations and individuals, or antagonistic emails sent to Jewish people and institutions.

The CST said there was also a spike in reports following the Bondi Beach killings in Sydney in December.

The highest daily incident totals for that month were on the day of that attack – December 14 – when 16 incidents were reported, and the following two days, with 19 and 15 incidents recorded respectively.

Of the 50 incidents across those three days, just under half (21) directly referenced the Bondi attack, the CST said.

CST chief executive Mark Gardner said: “Two years of intense anti-Jewish hatred culminated in a jihadi terror attack at a synagogue on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

“The terror attack then triggered even more antisemitism, showing the depths of extremism faced by Jews and all our British society.

“All of this makes CST even more determined to keep protecting our community, giving it strength and dignity so it can lead the life of its choice.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood branded the numbers “shocking” and said the Government “stands against the scourge of antisemitism”.

She added: “We are providing record funding for security at synagogues, Jewish schools and community centres. I will go further to strengthen police powers so they can crack down on intimidating protests.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said while the figures were “appalling” they were “not a surprise” and said the “evil of antisemitism” must be called out.

He added: “Anyone espousing extremist views or who expresses support for terrorism, or racial or religious hatred of any kind, including antisemitism, who is not a British citizen should be removed from this country.

“The Conservative Party is clear that there is no place for extremism on the streets of Britain and we continue to call on the Home Secretary and the police to use the full force of the law against those who attempt to harass or intimidate British Jews, or calls for violence such as jihad or intifada.”

Both the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police announced in December, days after the Bondi attack, that anyone chanting slogans such as “globalise the intifada” would face arrest.

The UK’s Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, welcomed the decision as “an important step towards challenging the hateful rhetoric” seen on Britain’s streets but the move was decried as political repression by campaigners.

Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, the national policing lead for hate crime, said 2025 had been “another difficult year for the Jewish community in the UK and elsewhere”, with continued “unacceptably high” levels of antisemitic hate.

He added: “The tensions that exist in our society have not abated and are both deeper and more long-standing than anything we have experienced in modern times.”

He said the police will “continue to commit resources to protect our Jewish communities and bring perpetrators to justice, and we remain deeply grateful for the work of the Community Security Trust, who share our determination to protect citizens from antisemitic hostility and violence”.

Lord Mann said: “Anti-Jewish racism is present in every sector and every corner of society.

“I thank CST for its tireless efforts to protect our Jewish communities. I will continue to champion those efforts and fight unrelentingly alongside them to ensure antisemitism has no place in Britain.”