UK police record sharp increase in religious hate crimes since Israel-Gaza war began

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The number of anti-Semitic hate crimes recorded by many of the UK’s largest police forces jumped sharply in the weeks after the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza conflict, new figures reveal.

The number of Islamophobic offences also increased for some forces, although the picture was more mixed across the country.

Jewish charities called the findings shocking, while campaigners against anti-Muslim abuse said the data was “deeply worrying”.

The Home Office has condemned the increase and said there is “no place for hate”.

Greater Manchester Police recorded 74 anti-Semitic offences in the month following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, compared with 15 for the same period in 2022 and 14 in 2021, while West Yorkshire Police recorded 53, compared with 10 in 2022 and 14 in 2021.

The British Transport Police had one of the largest increases, recording 87 anti-Semitic offences in the month after October 7, up from eight in the same period in 2022 and 11 in 2021, as well as a jump in Islamophobic offences with 22 in 2023, up from two in 2022 and eight in 2021.

West Yorkshire recorded 49 Islamophobic offences in this period in 2023, up from 29 in 2022 and 38 in 2021, while in Greater Manchester there were 34 in 2023, 43 in 2022 and 42 in 2021.

The Community Security Trust described the figures as shocking and said they made clear “the extent of the unacceptable rise in anti-Jewish hatred across the country since the Hamas terror attack on October 7”.

“This wave of anti-Semitism was triggered by the mass murder, rape and kidnapping of Jews in Israel, and is fuelled and sustained by extremist hatred online and on our streets,” a spokesperson said.

“It is essential that perpetrators are identified and prosecuted, and that wider society shows its disgust for this racist hate crime.”

Tell Mama, which monitors and works to tackle anti-Muslim sentiment and abuse in the UK, said that “levels of anti-Muslim hatred and discrimination are deeply worrying, impacting trust in authorities and their sense of identity and belonging”.