British Jews react to J7 report on 'alarming' antisemitism in the diaspora

In the wake of this year’s J7 report showing antisemitism in the UK at record levels, ALL ISRAEL NEWS heard how Jewish people are feeling about life in the UK and what the future holds.

According to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, which contributed to the report, over a third of Jewish people in the UK rated their safety as between 0 and 4 on a scale of 0 to 10, with the UK recording the largest increase in antisemitic incidents in 2025 of any country with a major Jewish population outside of Israel.

The J7, or Large Communities' Task Force Against Antisemitism, was founded in July 2023 and represents the seven nations with the largest Jewish communities in the diaspora: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, France and Argentina.

The report catalogs lived experiences and documented data, tracking the nature and scope of antisemitism and proposing steps to combat it going forward.

Israel’s embassy to the United Kingdom expressed “severe concern” about the report, describing the findings as “extremely alarming.” 

Ruth Jacobs, chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Birmingham and West Midlands spoke to ALL ISRAEL NEWS about antisemitism in her area. Jacobs has been very involved in interfaith work but reported that it has been significantly affected since Oct. 7 2023.

“People are very quick to say they're very supportive of Jewish people but as soon as you align yourself with Israel, then all of a sudden, we're not quite the people that they thought we were,” she said. 

“Most Jewish people that I'm aware of have some sense of connection to Israel and so you can't really separate antisemitism and Zionism. They feel very similar,” she continued, explaining that there has been a conflation of the two.

“Obviously, we as Jewish people are not responsible for what the Israeli government decides they're going to do, what they're going to say, but we feel the impact of it.” 

Dr. Richard Mendelsohn, a retired family practitioner in Birmingham, described how he felt pro-Palestinian marches each weekend in London had become expressions of support for Hamas. He told ALL ISRAEL NEWS, “Each one cut me to the quick.”

“I think ‘Free Palestine’ is a genocidal call for the destruction of Israel,” he said. “What that says to me is, we want [to get] rid of Israel.” 

In his neighborhood, there are countless Palestinian flags on display, on cars, in windows, and a huge flag flying over a coffee shop in the center. 

“When I see that flag, because of its associations, I see support for Hamas,” he said.

He pointed out a huge mural in his neighborhood with a fist on the background of a Palestinian flag. Initially it had blood flowing from the fist, which has since been painted over by way of moderating the message, but Mendelsohn felt the token effort was irrelevant.

“Sorry, it's not good enough… if the shoe was on the other foot, they wouldn't care. They would take it down. If I put an Israeli flag up, I'm convinced I'd have bricks thrown through the window; we'd have crap through the letterbox. You know, you have to be really careful.”

“I can absolutely say there is no future for the Jewish community in this city,” he told ALL ISRAEL NEWS. “Being visibly Jewish puts you in harm's way.”

Mendelsohn said his family became more committed to the Jewish community as antisemitism spiraled in the wake of Oct. 7, but that they have been open about their plans to leave the city in the next few years.

He shared two experiences of antisemitism that had troubled him deeply, one of seeing a school cycling lesson for young children in the park where the teachers were encouraging the children to chant “Free Palestine!” as they cycled, and another where they were harassed and intimidated by Muslims as they silently held vigil for the hostages.

“As I'm standing there, some Muslim guy walks past me and says under his breath, and he kind of brushes past me, said, ‘disgusting.’ Then groups of young Muslims from the local college start to gather… one guy climbs on the table behind us… sort of dancing,” he said, adding that he felt the police did not handle the situation well.

“One girl put the Palestinian flag on the phone. And was standing there in front of us, and a group called out things like 'child killers'. All we're doing is standing there with pictures of people who are hostages in Gaza,” he said.

Jacobs said she tried to warn students coming from larger Jewish communities in London and Manchester that it is better to avoid showing visible signs of their Jewish identity in Birmingham, but they had been “horrified” at the idea that they should have to hide.

“They weren't prepared to listen to any of my suggestions, and so they walk around very openly Jewish and take the consequences. They have been chased in the street and shouted at,” she relayed.

Her granddaughter, Simi, catalogued some of the extremism found on campus at the University of Birmingham:

“Despising Israel no longer represents some extreme political leaning; it has become the unofficial curriculum and institutional norm,” she writes. “Here at Birmingham, it is quite normal to publicly declare that Zionist students are unwelcome. It is perfectly acceptable for Jewish students to be treated as second-class.”

Jacobs’ granddaughter confirmed her claim that Jewish students in Birmingham have been chased and told to “Go back to Auschwitz,” while lecturers’ doors are adorned with Palestinian flags and watermelons. She also reported that some group chats had been labeled ‘No Jews Allowed’. 

The report found that the number of reported incidents in each of the seven countries has remained higher than levels before the Oct. 7 attack in 2023, and that violent incidents have risen by 97% since 2022.

The British government recently allocated an additional £251 million to help protect Jewish communities in the UK, and the Board of Deputies of British Jews said it was urging the government to "strengthen Jewish community security, tackle antisemitism in schools, universities and public life, and ensure social media companies are held accountable for the spread of anti-Jewish hatred."

In a joint statement, the J7 Large Communities Task Force Against Antisemitism said, "Antisemitism in our seven countries is no longer a surge; it is our new normal.”

"Governments must stop reacting after Jews are attacked and start acting before, with real security funding, stronger laws and social media platforms that enforce their own rules," the statement continued.

Dr. Mendelsohn said that in addition to the funding boost, they have also been provided with mass casualty trauma kits along with the training on how to use them. 

“The school got them and all the synagogues, arranged through CST,” he said, referring to the Community Security Trust.

“I feel betrayed by this country. Whatever they've done has been too little, too late,” said Mendelsohn.

“Latterly there's been some realization and some backtracking and some support,” he conceded, but said he struggled to understand how the government had let the situation deteriorate to such a degree.