Antisemitic Hate Incidents Spike After Manchester Synagogue Terror Attack
The Community Security Trust (CST), the UK's leading monitor of antisemitism, has revealed a disturbing surge in anti-Jewish hate incidents immediately following the deadly Manchester synagogue attack in October 2025. According to their latest annual report, a total of 80 antisemitic incidents were recorded across the day of the attack and the following day, marking the highest daily totals for the entire year.
Deadly Attack Triggers Wave of Hate
The horrific incident occurred at the Heaton Park Hebrew Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Worshippers Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed when 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie, a Syrian-born British citizen, drove into the synagogue gates before launching a knife attack while wearing a fake suicide belt. This tragic event stands as the first fatal antisemitic terror attack in the United Kingdom since the CST began its incident recordings in 1984.
Lord John Mann, the Government's independent adviser on antisemitism, expressed profound concern, stating it was "particularly troubling" to witness the large number of incidents that occurred "immediately after the horrific terrorist attack on Heaton Park Synagogue, celebrating the killing of British Jews on our streets." He described the latest figures as "deeply alarming and illustrative of the unrelenting nature of antisemitism in our country today."
Record-Breaking Annual Figures for 2025
The CST's comprehensive report for the twelve months of 2025 documented the second-highest annual total of antisemitic incidents ever recorded, with 3,700 cases reported. This represents a 4% increase from the 3,556 incidents logged in 2024. The record high remains the 4,298 antisemitic incidents reported in 2023, a year marked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel which prompted a significant spike in anti-Jewish hate across the UK.
Notably, 2025 was the first year where more than 200 cases of anti-Jewish hate were recorded in every single calendar month, indicating a persistent and widespread problem. The report highlighted several alarming trends:
- Property Damage and Desecration: Incidents involving damage to Jewish homes, vehicles, and synagogues reached the highest annual total ever recorded, with 217 cases in 2025—a sharp 38% increase from 157 the previous year.
- Abusive Behaviour: Reports of abusive behaviour accounted for the overwhelming majority (83% or 3,086 reports) of all anti-Jewish hate cases, reaching their highest level for any year aside from the record-setting 2023.
Direct Reactions to the Manchester Attack
Of the 80 antisemitic incidents recorded on October 2 and 3, 2025, more than half (53% or 42 incidents) involved direct reactions to the Manchester synagogue attack. The CST detailed that three of these incidents involved "face-to-face taunting and celebration of the attack to Jewish people," while 39 consisted of antisemitic social media posts referencing the attack, abusive responses to public condemnations from Jewish organisations and individuals, or antagonistic emails sent to Jewish people and institutions.
Further Spike Following Sydney Bondi Beach Killings
The report also identified another significant spike in antisemitic incidents following the Bondi Beach killings in Sydney during December 2025. The highest daily incident totals for that month occurred on the day of the attack—December 14—with 16 incidents reported, and the following two days, which saw 19 and 15 incidents recorded respectively. Of the 50 incidents across those three days, just under half (21) directly referenced the Bondi attack.
Official Responses and Police Action
CST chief executive Mark Gardner emphasised the severity of the situation, stating: "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." He reaffirmed the organisation's commitment to protecting the Jewish community.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood branded the numbers "shocking" and declared that the Government "stands against the scourge of antisemitism." She highlighted record funding for security at synagogues, Jewish schools, and community centres, and pledged to strengthen police powers to crack down on intimidating protests.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp described the figures as "appalling" but "not a surprise," insisting that the "evil of antisemitism" must be called out. He called for the removal from the country of any non-British citizens espousing extremist views or expressing support for terrorism or racial hatred.
In a significant move, both the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police announced in December 2025 that anyone chanting slogans such as "globalise the intifada" would face arrest. UK Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis welcomed this as "an important step towards challenging the hateful rhetoric" seen on Britain's streets, though some campaigners criticised the move as political repression.
Policing and Community Determination
Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, the national policing lead for hate crime, acknowledged that 2025 had been "another difficult year for the Jewish community in the UK and elsewhere," with continued "unacceptably high" levels of antisemitic hate. He noted that societal tensions "have not abated and are both deeper and more long-standing than anything we have experienced in modern times." He pledged continued police resources to protect Jewish communities and bring perpetrators to justice.
Lord Mann concluded with a stark warning: "Anti-Jewish racism is present in every sector and every corner of society." He thanked the CST for its tireless efforts and vowed to continue fighting unrelentingly to ensure antisemitism has no place in Britain.
