Antisemitism in the UK fell last year—but was still the second highest year on record

The Community Security Trust (CST) has reported its second highest annual total of antisemitic incidents.

The figures fell from 2023’s record high but remain significantly above pre-2023 levels, which saw a surge in antisemitism following the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7 2023.

The CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents in 2024 – an 18% decrease from the record 4,296 incidents in 2023 – but markedly higher than previous years, with the highest pre-2023 total being 2,261 incidents in 2021 – around the date of the previous Israel-Hamas conflict.

The report reveals that 200 incidents were recorded in every month of 2024 except December, a contrast to pre-October 2023 trends when just five months in the previous four decades exceeded this threshold.

Number of incidents month by month 2013-2024 (CST)[Missing Credit]

Incidents related to the conflict in Israel made up over half (52 per cent) of all reported incidents. CST also found that Anti-Zionist language was increasingly present in incidents with 1,533 incidents (43 per cent of the total) showing explicit anti-Zionism, a rise from 31 per cent in 2023.

Synagogues and their congregants were increasingly targeted, with 223 incidents recorded in 2024, an eight per cent rise from the previous year.

Online antisemitism accounted for 35 per cent of all incidents, with 1,240 cases recorded – the second-highest total for digital incidents.

Two swastikas and “THIS CONTRY NEEDS CHANGE” [sic] scrawled on a children’s climbing tree, Hertfordshire, July 2024 (CST)[Missing Credit]

The CST documented 260 school-related antisemitic incidents, including 109 cases at non-faith schools, 63 at Jewish schools, and 88 targeting Jewish pupils outside school settings.

In November, a pupil at a school in Essex was targeted on repeat occasions by a classmate, who said: “I hope you get gassed”, “I hope we can go back to the old times in the 1940s”, “Heil Hitler”, and made Nazi salutes to the pupil.

In Hertfordshire in July, two swastikas and “THIS CONTRY NEEDS CHANGE” [sic] were scrawled on a children’s climbing tree. Also in July, “Jew lie July” was sprayed on a school sign in Wycombe.

“Jew lie July” sprayed on a school sign, Wycombe, July 2024 (CST)[Missing Credit]

University campuses saw high levels of Jew hate, with 145 incidents involving students, academics, or Jewish student organisations – marking the second-highest recorded total but a 23 per cent decrease from 2023.

Incidents were reported to the CST across the UK, but areas with significant Jewish populations saw a higher concentration of Jew hate. Greater London recorded the most incidents (1,847), the capital’s second-highest annual total. Within London, Barnet, home to the UK’s largest Jewish community, recorded the largest total of 791 incidents. Figures in Westminster were also high, with 213 reported cases, many linked to anti-Israel protests or vigils for Hamas’s hostages.

Greater Manchester recorded 480 incidents, and there were high numbers in Leeds (129), Borehamwood and Elstree (49), Birmingham (47), Brighton and Hove (43), and Liverpool (38). In Brighton, eggs were thrown at a synagogue door.

Lincolnshire and Suffolk were the only police constabularies where there were no reported incidents.

Graffiti equating a Star of David with a Swastika in Norwich, October 2024 (CST)[Missing Credit]

 

Incidents ranged from online harassment to violent assault. 

The CST documented 201 physical assaults in 2024, a 26 per cent drop from 273 in 2023 but still the second-highest annual total. There was one instance of extreme violence, involving an arson attack at a Jewish home.

Threats against Jewish individuals and institutions remained high, with 250 incidents recorded. In August, a Dorset synagogue received an email threatening a mass shooting and referencing Hitler. It said, “Tomorrow morning, I will come down and gun down all you Jewish fat loser one by one, I will become Hitler on that early morning, I hope you think I’m joking so you do not inform anyone to save you filthy humans, in the name of Allah i will destroy all of you... watch.” [sic]

A significant portion of reported cases (73 per cent) presented one or more political or ideological discourses, motivations, tropes or conspiracy theories. This was up from 2023 when 64 per cent of incidents included political or ideological factors, and 2022 when just half of the cases were political or ideological.

Most common discourse used alongside antisemitism (CST)[Missing Credit]

“The rise in politicised language and motivations further demonstrates the impact of extremisms of different kinds on anti-Jewish hate in the UK,” the CST report said.

Despite improvements in documentation, the CST acknowledged that many incidents go unreported, especially those involving minors or perceived as lower-level harassment. The figures serve as indicators of broader trends rather than an exhaustive count of all incidents.

In response to the Jewish security charity’s 48-page report, the Home Secretary pledged to “redouble” the government’s efforts to root out the “poison of antisemitism”.

Yvette Cooper said: “Antisemitism has no place in this country – not now and not ever. This report shows that antisemitic incidents in Britain remain unacceptably high, and we must redouble our efforts to root out the poison of antisemitism wherever it is found. Antisemitic hate must never be tolerated.

“We have committed to providing the Jewish Community Protective Grant with £18 million per year, administered by CST, and why we will always support the police in taking the strongest possible action against those who target our Jewish communities and break our laws. This government will work tirelessly to tackle the scourge of antisemitism and ensure that Britain’s Jewish communities can always live in freedom from fear”.

CST chief executive Mark Gardner said: “Those who are complicit in this antisemitism range from social media giants to the Islamist and far left extremists who celebrated the Hamas terror attacks. These hatreds are compounded by the stony silence with which Jewish concerns are met in far too many places of work, education and culture. It leaves Jews feeling ever more isolated and worried for the future.”
The government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, Lord John Mann, said: "Government, policing and civil society continue to recognise CST as the leading source of reliable evidence on the scale and nature of antisemitism in the United Kingdom. Their 2024 incident report should serve as a stark reminder to the country that antisemitism is still a pervasive scourge affecting all areas of our society.

“We know that when conflict escalates in the Middle East, the Jewish community always suffers. I will continue to work closely with CST in ensuring there is zero tolerance for anti-Jewish racism, wherever it occurs. British Jews deserve to live their lives free from harassment, abuse or intimidation. I am committed to ensuring this remains a reality in this country."

Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, added: “Whilst incidents of crime toward the Jewish Community have sadly been on the rise, it is through partnership with organisations such as the CST that we can continue to enhance the safety of the Jewish Community during uncertain times, and it is vital people of all political parties support them in every way we can. We must drive the scourge of antisemitism off our streets.”