Antisemitic incidents in UK, led by Manchester attack, remained near record highs in 2025 — report

Antisemitic incidents in the United Kingdom reached their second-highest level on record in 2025, led by the deadly terror attack targeting a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Community Security Trust.

The charity, which monitors antisemitism and provides security for British Jews, recorded 3,700 anti-Jewish hate incidents last year. That was 4% higher than the 3,556 incidents logged in 2024, but less than the record 4,298 incidents recorded in 2023 in the wake of the October 7 Hamas-led attack against Israel.

The figures include physical assaults, vandalism, threats and online abuse.

The most severe incident was the terror assault at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, CST noted. Two worshipers, Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby, were killed, and three were seriously injured. It was the first fatal antisemitic terror attack recorded in the UK since the organization began tracking incidents in 1984, CST said.

That attack triggered an immediate surge in antisemitic incidents. CST said it logged 40 incidents on the day of the attack and another 40 the following day, more than half of which referenced or celebrated the killing. October was the worst month for antisemitic incidents in 2025 and fifth-worst on record overall, CST said.

After “two years of intense anti-Jewish hatred,” these follow-up incidents “showed the depths of extremism faced by Jews and all our British society,” CST chief executive Mark Gardner said. “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.”

Including the Manchester attack, CST recorded four incidents categorized as “extreme violence” in 2025, double the number recorded the previous year and more than the combined total of the prior three years.

Overall, CST recorded an average of 308 incidents a month, twice the monthly average seen before October 2023, it said. There was no month with fewer than 200 incidents.

There were also 170 antisemitic assaults, accounting for about 5% of all incidents, while cases of damage and desecration of Jewish property rose sharply by 38% to a record 217.

Abusive behavior, including verbal harassment, hate messages and graffiti, remained the most common category, making up 83% of all incidents. CST also recorded 1,541 online antisemitic incidents, the highest annual total on record and a 23% increase from 2024. Online cases accounted for 42% of all incidents, the largest proportion ever documented.

“This figure only represents a fraction of antisemitic content online, as CST does not proactively search social media and only records incidents reported by victims,” the report noted.

More than half of all antisemitic incidents referenced Israel, Palestine, Hamas or the ongoing war in the Middle East, according to the report. Nearly half showed explicitly anti-Zionist motivation alongside anti-Jewish language or targeting. Nazi and Holocaust-related imagery or rhetoric appeared in 27% of all incidents.

After the punk-rap group Bob Vylan chanted “Death to the IDF” during a performance at the Glastonbury Festival in June, CST documented 32 incidents using the phrase in explicitly antisemitic contexts. No such incidents were recorded before that event, it noted.

In 2025, the number of antisemitic incidents in schools fell 23%, while those in university-related settings dropped 41% from the previous year. However, incidents affecting synagogues and their congregants rose slightly, from 222 cases in 2024 to 227 in 2025.

There were 36 antisemitic incidents linked to professional soccer, compared to 25 in 2024. Fourteen of those were connected to West Midlands Police’s decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending a match against Aston Villa, prompting a spike in anti-Jewish abuse.

Geographically, Greater London and Greater Manchester accounted for 61% of all incidents, though CST said antisemitic activity was recorded in every mainland police region. Outside those two areas, the highest numbers were recorded in West Yorkshire, Hertfordshire, the West Midlands, Sussex and Merseyside.

In addition to the 3,700 confirmed antisemitic incidents, CST said it handled 3,000 additional reports that did not meet the threshold for being classified as antisemitic. Many of these still required security or police engagement, it noted.