Prince William visits London synagogue to hear of rise in antisemitism in UK
Visit by heir to the throne comes week after he made headlines by saying too many people have been killed in Gaza war, joining calls for a ceasefire
LONDON – Britain’s Prince William visited a London synagogue on Thursday to hear about an upsurge in antisemitism, as he returned to public duties two days after mysteriously pulling out of a high-profile royal event over what was described as a “personal matter.”
A week after the heir to the throne called for an end to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, William met young ambassadors from the Holocaust Educational Trust who are seeking to tackle hatred amid soaring antisemitism in Britain.
During his visit to the Western Marble Arch Synagogue, the prince, who wore a yarmulke, listened to Jewish students as they recounted how there had been what one described as an “explosion” in antisemitism, including death threats and assaults.
He also met with 94-year-old Holocaust survivor Renee Salt to hear of her experiences.
Last week’s unusually direct intervention by William that “too many have been killed” in the Gaza conflict and that Hamas must release hostages generated international headlines as royals by convention avoid contentious political matters.
But after becoming the first senior British royal to make an official visit to Israel and the West Bank in 2018, he has followed the region closely, his office said.
On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced 54 million pounds ($68 million) of new funding to protect Jewish communities after figures showed antisemitic incidents had hit a record high in Britain last year.
Earlier this month, Community Security Trust, a Jewish-British nonprofit, said Britain recorded thousands of antisemitic incidents after the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas in October, making 2023 the worst year for UK antisemitism since its records began in 1984.
War broke out between Israel and Hamas following Hamas’s October 7 massacre, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 253 while committing widespread atrocities.
The ensuing Israeli offensive against Hamas has killed over 30,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. These numbers cannot be independently verified and do not differentiate between civilians and Hamas operatives. Israel says it has killed over 12,000 Hamas operatives since the beginning of the war and about 1,000 in Israeli territory on October 7.
