CST, the Community Security Trust, has recorded the second-highest number of anti-Jewish hate incidents in the UK for the calendar year of 2024 — 3,528 incidents.
But the figure is 18 per cent down on the worst year on record, 2023, in which 4,296 incidents occurred, caused by antisemitic responses to the 7 October 2023 mass terror attack in Israel and the subsequent Middle East war.
The charity says that the immediate spike in antisemitism in October 2023 was followed by 2024’s “enduring anti-Jewish hate throughout the year: lower in volume than the last quarter of 2023, but significantly higher than it had been prior to the Hamas terror attack”.
Though CST acknowledges that rates of reporting have increased in the last 40 years since antisemitic incidents began to be fully collated, the analyses and breakdown of such incidents have remained consistent. Ultimately, the charity tracks “a longstanding pattern in which antisemitism rises when Israel is at war”, adding that the “lasting impact of the conflict in the Middle East on anti-Jewish discourse in the UK is evident in the fact that rhetoric related to the conflict, alongside anti-Jewish language or targeting, featured in 52 per cent of the 3,528 antisemitic incidents reported to CST”.
The incidents are categorised in various ways — assault (201 incidents), damage and desecration of Jewish property (157), threats (250) and abusive behaviour (2,892). Twenty-seven incidents were reported in the category of mass-produced antisemitic literature, rising by 17 per cent from 23 such incidents recorded in 2023, and one additional assault was severe enough to be classed as extreme violence.
One hundred and sixty-four antisemitic incidents targeted synagogues, including buildings, congregants and staff, and 59 targeted congregants on their way to or from prayers. In total 223 antisemitic incidents targeted synagogues and their congregants in 2024, a net increase of eight per cent from the previous year and a record number of this type of incident.
CST also recorded 1,240 online antisemitic incidents in 2024, which is the second-highest annual total for online anti-Jewish hate and accounted for 35 per cent of all antisemitic incidents.
Sixty-three antisemitic incidents were recorded at Jewish schools, and a further 88 incidents targeted Jewish schoolchildren away from school. An additional 109 incidents were recorded affecting Jewish schoolchildren or staff at non-faith schools, resulting in a total of 260 school-related cases of anti-Jewish hate, the second highest ever recorded by CST in a calendar year.
In 2024, CST recorded 145 university-related antisemitic incidents involving students, academics, or Jewish student organisations. Of these, 68 per cent referenced Israel and the Middle East alongside anti-Jewish language, targeting or motivation, again highlighting the way that antisemitic reactions to the war in the Middle East affect Jewish life in Britain.
CST logged 1,847 antisemitic incidents in Greater London, falling by 24 per cent from 2023; and 480 cases in Greater Manchester, a decrease of 13 per cent for the corresponding area in 2023. In both regions, these are the second-highest annual incident figures recorded by CST.
Apart from Greater London and Greater Manchester, the police regions with the highest numbers of recorded antisemitic incidents in 2024 were West Yorkshire with 184, Hertfordshire with 117, Scotland with 74, Thames Valley with 65 and West Midlands with 63. Notable incident totals in cities and towns included 129 incidents in Leeds, 49 in Borehamwood and Elstree, 47 in Birmingham, 43 in Brighton and Hove and 38 in Liverpool.
CST’s chief executive, Mark Gardner, said: “CST is proud to have given strength and support to British Jews at a time when our community is facing more hatred and pressure than it has for many decades. We welcome the defiance and pride that our community has shown, despite everything it has been through. Those who are complicit in this antisemitism range from social media giants to the Islamist and far Left extremists who celebrated the Hamas terror attacks. These hatreds are compounded by the stony silence with which Jewish concerns are met in far too many places of work, education and culture. It leaves Jews feeling ever more isolated and worried for the future.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Antisemitism has no place in this country — not now and not ever. This report shows that antisemitic incidents in Britain remain unacceptably high, and we must redouble our efforts to root out the poison of antisemitism wherever it is found. Antisemitic hate must never be tolerated. That’s why we have committed to providing the Jewish Community Protective Grant with £18 million per year, administered by CST, and why we will always support the police in taking the strongest possible action against those who target our Jewish communities and break our laws. This government will work tirelessly to tackle the scourge of antisemitism and ensure that Britain’s Jewish communities can always live in freedom from fear”.
The government’s Independent Adviser on Antisemitism, Lord Mann, said: “Government, policing and civil society continue to recognise CST as the leading source of reliable evidence on the scale and nature of antisemitism in the United Kingdom. Their 2024 incident report should serve as a stark reminder to the country that antisemitism is still a pervasive scourge affecting all areas of our society. We know that when conflict escalates in the Middle East, the Jewish community always suffers. I will continue to work closely with CST in ensuring there is zero tolerance for anti-Jewish racism, wherever it occurs. British Jews deserve to live their lives free from harassment, abuse or intimidation. I am committed to ensuring this remains a reality in this country.”
