Antisemitism ‘normalised in middle-class Britain’, damning report reveals

British Jews reported feeling "tolerated rather than being respected” in professions, cultural life and public services.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the country’s largest Jewish community organisation, also noted the two-tier justice between Jews and pro-Palestine protests.

Lord Mann, the Government’s anti-Semitism adviser, and Dame Penny Mordaunt, the former defence secretary, who co-authored the review, wrote in the Telegraph that they had been "stunned into silence”.

They said: “We heard about the noisy demonstrations and how intimidating people find the current environment, but as we dug deeper, what really scared us was the increasing normalisation of far more extreme, personalised and sometimes life-changing impact directed at individuals purely and simply because they are Jewish.”

The pair added: “We are two non-Jews from opposite sides of the political spectrum and we have both come to realise that if our Jewish community is facing discrimination, this is a failure of our society.”

In an overhaul of the policing of anti-Semitic crimes, the report will be published on Tuesday and considered by the Government.

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The organisation will also launch an "anti-Semitism training qualification" for employers after incidents hit record highs, according to the Community Security Trust, which monitors reports of anti-Jewish hate in Britain.

The rise is due to the increasing divide between pro-Palestinian supporters and Israelis following the October 7 attacks in 2023.

Among 10 recommendations made in their report are recognising Judaism as an ethnicity.

British Jews were often seen as supporters of the strikes on Gaza, the co-authors claim.

The report also raised concerns that police had struggled to effectively tackle anti-Jewish hate.

It argued that “improvements can be made to ensure that there is a consistent standard and understanding of anti-Semitism across all police forces throughout the country".

A recent poll found that five per cent of the British public would back Iran in the conflict - a statistic that has left members of the Jewish communities feeling increasingly vulnerable.

Shira, an Israeli citizen living in the UK, told GB News that she believes that there is a danger of people expressing threats to the Jewish community when they "start supporting legitimate terrorist organisations" in the Middle East.

She said: "When you have free speech, everyone can say their opinions everywhere. I think it becomes worrying when the support goes beyond just caring for innocent civilians, protesting against violence and war culture in general, and it starts supporting legitimate terrorist organisations.

"To me personally, that is where I draw the line. It is not just protesting against human rights; it is protesting for and rooting for legit terrorist organisations."

Between January and June 2024, the Community Security Trust recorded 1,978 antisemitic incidents across the UK.

This represents a sharp rise of more than 1,000 compared to the same period the previous year.