The Community Security Trust (CST) is a UK charity that advises and represents the Jewish community on matters of antisemitism, terrorism, policing and security. CST received charitable status in 1994. CST defines an antisemitic incident as any malicious act aimed at Jewish people, organisations or property, where there is evidence that the act has antisemitic motivation or content, or that the victim was targeted because they are (or are believed to be) Jewish.
Antisemitic incidents are reported to CST in several ways, most commonly by telephone, email, via the CST website, via CST’s social media platforms, by security guards at Jewish locations or in person to CST staff and volunteers. CST staff have undergone specialist victim support training in order to provide the best possible response to incident victims and witnesses who contact CST.
CST recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2025, the second-highest total ever reported to CST in a single calendar year
The increase from the total recorded in 2024 reflects that antisemitic incident levels remain at a significantly higher rate than was the case prior to Hamas’ terror attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. There was an immediate and significant spike in recorded cases of anti-Jewish hate in the UK in the aftermath of that attack. The subsequent war, and its grip of public and media attention even during periods of ceasefire, has continued to impact the amount and nature of anti-Jewish hate reported in the 27 months since that date.
The most severe antisemitic incident during 2025 was the fatal terrorist attack at Heaton Park Synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar
Jewish holiday events are popular targets for those minded to act on their hatred with such heinous acts of violence, given the increased potential for mass casualties and the weighty symbolic impact of attacking Jewish people simply observing or celebrating their religion. Second, in the wake of fatal attacks, Jewish communities everywhere are perceived to be vulnerable, and antisemites take the opportunity to pile on with their prejudice as Jewish people collectively grieve, process and rebuild.
The influence of events in the Middle East on antisemitism in the UK is clear in the 1,977 incidents – 53% of the annual total – that were rhetorically
or contextually linked to Israel, Gaza, 7 October or the subsequent war.
CST recorded 3,086 reports in the category of Abusive Behaviour in 2025, more than in any other year bar 2023 and a 6% rise from the 2,917 such incidents logged in 2024.
There were 27 incidents reported to CST in the category of mass-produced antisemitic Literature in 2025, equal to the number of such cases recorded in 2024
CST recorded 462 instances of anti-Jewish hate wherein the terms “Zionism” or “Zionist” were used, often as euphemisms for “Jewishness” and “Jew”, or in conjunction with other antisemitic sentiment
CST is often asked about the difference between antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel activity, and how this distinction is made in the categorisation of incidents. The distinction between the two can be subtle and the subject of much debate. Clearly, it would not be acceptable to define all anti-Israel activity as antisemitic.
The enduringly high incident levels and type of content reported since the initial Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 partly reflect the unprecedented length of the subsequent war, its geographical reach from Gaza to Lebanon and Iran, and its consequent continued foregrounding in media, politics and public debate
In some cases, social media has been used as a tool for coordinated campaigns
of antisemitic harassment, threats and abuse directed at Jewish public figures and other individuals.
Synagogues are symbolic and often very visible targets for those seeking a target for their anti-Jewish hate, and every attack on a synagogue is an attack on Jewish life itself.
One hundred and seventy-four involved lies regarding religious rituals and practices, rising from 108 in 2024. These incidents often invoke the Blood Libel myth, which has been given new life by antisemites who frame the tragic death of innocent Gazan children as a result of Jewish lust for infant blood.
The year-on-year rise in politicised, ideological, conspiratorial and, in some cases, fundamentalist language within reports of antisemitic hate is concerning, and points to a growing pervasiveness of extremist attitudes about the Jewish community in the UK.
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