More than 4,000 anti-Semitic acts were recorded in the UK in 2023, a record ‘explosion’ after Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, sparking the Gaza war, says a report released today by an Israeli community collective. .

The Community Security Trust (CST), which records such incidents and guarantees the security of schools and places of worship of the Israeli community in the United Kingdom, counted 4,103 anti-Semitic acts in 2023, in other words a number twice the previous record, which occurred in 2021, and increased by 147% from 2022.

This level is due “entirely to the increase in incidents following the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7” and “the magnitude of the increase is unprecedented,” the CST points out.

Two-thirds of those actions followed the Palestinian Islamist movement’s attack on southern sectors of Israeli territory, which killed more than 1,160 people, according to an AFP tally based on official statements from the authorities. The large-scale operations launched in retaliation by the Israeli army have so far claimed the lives of 28,756 people, according to Hamas’ health ministry.

“British Jews are strong and have endured a lot, but the outpouring of hatred against our community is an absolute disgrace,” commented CST executive director Mark Gardner.

It affects “schools, universities, workplaces, streets, and above all social networking sites,” he added.

“Our community is being harassed, intimidated, threatened and attacked by extremists,” he continued, “this is a challenge for everyone and we condemn the stony silence of those sections of society who willingly condemn racism in all other cases, unless it is hatred against the Jews”.

British Home Secretary James Cleverley, whose statement is included in the CST report, called the surge in anti-Semitic acts “absolutely pitiful” and promised to do “everything within (his) power” to tackle the problem.

In late October, London’s police chief, Mark Rowley, pointed out that anti-Semitic attacks had increased 14-fold and anti-Muslim attacks had almost tripled.

However, in December, the association Tell MAMA, which records anti-Muslim actions in Britain, spoke of a sevenfold increase in their number from October 7 to December 13, specifying that they amounted to 1,432, compared to 195 in the corresponding period of the previous year.

This is the largest increase this organization has ever seen in such a short period of time.