UK antisemitic incidents rose 21%, Jewish charity says

Antisemitic incidents in the UK rose by 21 percent in the first six months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, the Community Security Trust said.

The Jewish charity said it recorded 1,926 anti-Jewish hate incidents between January and June, up from 1,598 in the first half of 2025. It said this was the second-highest total it had recorded for the first half of any year.

The incidents included assaults, arson attacks and the late April stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green, a London suburb with a long-established Jewish population, the CST said.

The charity said the Golders Green stabbing was followed by an increase in daily antisemitic attacks and abuse. It recorded 71 incidents in the three days after the stabbing, 16 of which directly referred to the attack.

A little-known group linked to Tehran, the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, also known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, has claimed responsibility for seven attacks, including the torching of four ambulances belonging to the Jewish charity Hatzola in Golders Green in March.

The UK government sanctioned the group in July. Home Office minister Angela Eagle said last month that Britain had identified activity linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps involving threats to life and intimidation in the UK.

Policing minister Sarah Jones called the latest figures “appalling” and said the government was investing £250 million to boost policing in Jewish neighbourhoods.