The UK has recorded the sharpest rise in antisemitic incidents among major Jewish diaspora countries outside Israel, according to a new report.
The study, published by the J7 Large Communities’ Task Force Against Antisemitism, warns that anti-Jewish attitudes are becoming “more widespread”.
The task force, made up of organisations from seven countries, said it was deeply concerned by “the deadly reality of antisemitism that Jewish communities worldwide confront at levels unprecedented since World War II”.
Its findings follow a series of antisemitic attacks targeting synagogues in Britain, alongside a sharp increase in online threats and abuse.
The report examines trends in countries with the largest Jewish populations outside Israel: Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and the US.
Summarising its conclusions, the organisation said: “The picture that emerges from this report is both sobering and urgent.”
Researchers found that antisemitic incidents remain significantly higher than they were before the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which more than 1,200 people were killed. The report noted, however, that incidents fell in four J7 countries last year after reaching peaks in 2024.
Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responded to the October 7 attacks with a military offensive in Gaza, where estimates put the death toll at more than 80,000.
Four Jewish charity ambulances were set on fire in Golders Green, north London, in March
The seven countries covered in the new report recording a combined total of more than 91,000 antisemitic incidents last year.
These included 8,725 incidents in Germany, 6,274 in the US, 3,700 in Britain, 1,654 in Australia, 1,320 in France, 788 in Canada and 713 in Argentina.
Reported antisemitic incidents across those nations are said to have increased by 136 per cent since 2022 and violent incidents are up by 97 per cent.
The UK was one of three countries seeing a rise last year, along with Argentina and Germany, according to the new study – with Britain’s five per cent surge the biggest.
Marina Rosenberg, from the US-based Anti-Defamation League which was involved in the report, told the BBC: ‘Violent antisemitic attacks don’t just start with violence.
‘Social media has been used in the past few years as a place for radicalisation for different groups and individuals, including those that later go on a violent spree against a synagogue or a school – and now AI is part of it.’
The J7 Large Communities Task Force Against Antisemitism said in a statement: ‘Antisemitism in our seven countries is no longer a surge; it is our new normal.
‘Governments must stop reacting after Jews are attacked and start acting before, with real security funding, stronger laws and social media platforms that enforce their own rules.’
Police and fire officers are seen outside the former East London Central Synagogue in Nelson Street in Whitechapel, east London, following a suspected arson attack in May
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism today told the Daily Mail: ‘These findings should come as an embarrassment to Britain’s authorities.
‘This country is experiencing an antisemitism crisis that has been fuelled by inaction from our decision-makers, who claim to prioritise protecting Jews without properly confronting the perpetrators driving this hatred.
‘Recent actions by the Government to increase protective measures for the Jewish community and ban the IRGC are long overdue, but will have little impact if authorities fail to act forcefully against extremists.
‘This rise in antisemitism is clear evidence that radicalisation and extremism are sky-high and must be stamped out before it’s no longer fixable.’
Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s newly-reappointed Housing Secretary Angela Rayner earlier said she was ‘appalled by the horrific rise of antisemitism in the UK’, calling it ‘intolerable’.
She added: ‘Across government, we’re also working with international partners, including the J7, to strengthen the global fight against antisemitism and stand up for Jewish communities wherever they face discrimination, abuse or violence.’
There has recently been a series of arsons at Jewish sites in London, as well as a double stabbing in Golders Green, north London, being treated as an act of terrorism.
Four ambulances operated by the Jewish charity Hatzola were set on fire in Golders Green in March this year.
The firebombing caused gas canisters stored in the ambulances to explode, with the force from the blast causing windows to break in a block of flats close by.
The neighbouring synagogue, one of Europe’s oldest, had its roof damaged and stained glass windows smashed in the fire.
Many attacks have been claimed by a group called Hayi that is suspected to be backed by Iran in a bid to sow division in Britain.
A former synagogue in London was hit by a suspected arson attack in May this year – as counter-terrorism police launched an investigation amid similar sprees.
Police cordon off ‘Jewish Futures’ in Hendon, north-west London, after an arson attack in April
Officers were called at 5.16am by the London Fire Brigade to reports of a blaze at a historic building in Nelson Street in Whitechapel, east London.
Officers found minor damage to a set of gates and a lock at the front of the building, while there were no reports of any people injured.
The Government has promised a new law to allow it to take action against state-backed groups and also proscribed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
At a May roundtable of senior figures from the police, representatives from the arts, higher education, trade unions and businesses, then-Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also promised new action to implement a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to anti-Semitism on university campuses and action in the arts.
Universities will now be expected to ‘demonstrate action’ to tackle anti-Semitism among students, according to Sir Keir who has subsequently been succeeded in Downing Street by Mr Burnham.
He added: ‘We will now expect them to publish the scale of the problem on their campuses, as well as the specific steps they have taken to clamp down on it. There will be zero tolerance for inaction.’
The Arts Council will meanwhile be expected to withdraw funding and claw it back from anyone found to promote anti-Semitism, Sir Keir added.
He also announced the Government had ordered an independent audit of how allegations of antisemitism are handled.
He said: ‘This will be a hard-edge review of where systems are failing. We will not, and cannot, accept complacency, delays or weak enforcement, and where inconsistency is found, it will be challenged and addressed swiftly.’
Ahead of the meeting, the Government announced Jewish communities across England would receive an extra £1million.
The money is expected to pay for community safety work and projects aimed at countering anti-Semitic narratives.
Universities will now be expected to publish details of antisemitic attacks on campuses, with ‘zero tolerance’ for inaction.
Earlier this year the Government launched an independent review into anti-Semitism in schools and colleges in England, with pupils, parents and teachers asked for their views.
The Community Security Trust recorded 204 school-related anti-Semitic incidents in 2025 – double the levels seen before 2023.
