The real impact of antisemitism goes far beyond the headlines

Worldwide, antisemitic attacks more than doubled in 2025, according to a new report tracking antisemitism across the world's seven largest diaspora Jewish communities. And the UK recorded the biggest rise in antisemitic incidents last year of any country outside Israel with a major Jewish population.

For British Jews, this report does not tell us anything we do not already know from our daily lives. What it does provide is powerful international context. It confirms that the fears, anxieties and pressures felt across our community are not isolated incidents or the product of over-sensitivity. They are part of a sustained and worsening pattern of antisemitism.

That should concern everyone. For centuries, Jews have flourished in the UK. We have contributed to every part of national life. Yet today, many Jewish families are asking questions that previous generations hoped had been settled. Is it safe to wear a Star of David in public? Will our children face hostility at school or university merely because they are Jewish?

These are not abstract concerns. They are conversations taking place around kitchen tables and in community centres across the country.

The impact of antisemitism is often misunderstood. When people hear about antisemitic incidents, they tend to think about headline-grabbing cases: Of course, there was the awful terrorist attack at Heaton Park Synagogue which claimed two lives. There have been synagogues vandalised, verbal abuse on the street, threats directed at public figures. Those incidents matter enormously, but they are only part of the story. The cumulative effect is just as damaging.

Jewish students may stay silent in a college discussion; parents worry every time their child travels to a Jewish school; employees remove visible signs of their Jewish identity at work; communities feel compelled to invest in security simply to carry out normal religious and communal life. These are the hidden costs of antisemitism.

None of this should be happening in modern Britain. Of course, people are entitled to strong views about international events and governments. Democratic societies depend on vigorous debate. But far too often we have seen legitimate political disagreement cross the line into discrimination and prejudice towards Jews. Jewish schools, synagogues or community institutions become targets whenever tensions rise in the Middle East.

Antisemitism is not inevitable. It is a choice. And it can be challenged. That responsibility belongs to all of us. We call on our government and its Prime Minister Andy Burnham to speak with clarity and consistency whenever antisemitism appears. Social media companies must do far more to prevent hatred from spreading unchecked across their platforms and more regulation is needed to ensure this happens. Universities, schools and employers must ensure that Jewish people can participate fully in public life without fear of discrimination or intimidation.

Most importantly, wider society must not become desensitised. Every antisemitic incident represents a message sent to Jews that they are somehow less welcome, less safe or less entitled to belong. Britain is at its best when it rejects that message unequivocally. The overwhelming majority of people in this country believe in tolerance, fairness and mutual respect. Those values remain our strongest defence against hatred.

The findings published today should serve as a wake-up call. The fact that the United Kingdom has experienced the largest increase in antisemitic incidents among the world's major diaspora Jewish communities is not a statistic to be explained away. It is a warning to be heeded.

British Jews are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for something much simpler: the ability to live openly, safely and proudly as Jews in the country we call home.

That is not merely a Jewish concern. It is a test of the kind of society Britain wants to be.

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Phil Rosenberg is President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

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