Abstract: The 7 October 2023 attacks on the Jewish state by Hamas and other terrorist groups devastated Israel
and unleashed an unprecedented rise in antisemitism worldwide which – despite a ceasefire being in
place in Gaza for a year – has not abated.
The nature of antisemitism also changed following the attacks with antisemitic incidents – which began
surging exponentially even before Israel’s operations in Gaza – now increasingly anti-Zionist in nature.
Anti-Zionist antisemitism – first promulgated by the Soviet Union and now a major feature of far-left and
Islamist extremism – denies the Jewish right to national self-determination. The Islamist terrorist who
attacked the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester on the Jewish high holidays last October directly
referred to Israel; other terrorists targeting Jews have also done so.
Antisemitism begets antisemitism, with massive spikes in antisemitic attacks following the Heaton Park
attack as well as the slew of Iran-orchestrated attacks against the Jewish community in the spring.
As this report details, anti-Zionist antisemitism is now institutionally embedded across the UK,
especially in the public sector – with many Jewish students and NHS staff and patients unable to visibly
identify as Jews and facing regular antisemitic harassment. An obsession with Israel – which detracts
from threats to Britain’s national security and increases the threat to the Jewish community –
increasingly dominates our politics. As Hamas sought to isolate Israel from the world, so too are Jews
being frozen out of society in their own country.
Following the Manchester attack, the government has implemented a range of commendable steps to
protect the Jewish community – from increased support for security to creating new powers to curb
intimidation at anti-Israel protests.
However, Jewish life in Britain is still facing an existential threat today. Higher and thicker walls are not
the answer to a social ill which requires structural realignment, including addressing the manner in
which anti-Zionism sits at the heart of the antisemitism crisis facing the country.
LFI is recommending a series of new measures – many drawn from courageous Jewish communal
groups who are at the forefront of defending British values – including:
Require all public bodies to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
definition of antisemitism in full and without amendment.
Establish an independent reviewer of antisemitism in the public sector, who will produce and
publish an annual report, and ensure all public bodies collect data and report on antisemitic
incidents and complaints.
Work to increase awareness of the threat posed by anti-Zionist antisemitism, especially in
areas like higher education. Establish a statutory framework for the investigation and
disciplinary handling of hate crime incidents in higher education and universities; the Charity
Commission, Office for Students and other regulatory bodies should be empowered to ensure
proper conduct and strengthen students’ union accountability, implementing sanctions where
unions fail to address antisemitism; higher education should be designated a priority area for
the Protecting What Matters social cohesion action plan; formalised taskforces should be
established to better coordinate action by the police, universities and government to combat
criminality and extremist activity on campuses, including the provision of clear public order
guidance for universities and the police to strengthen enforcement of new and existing powers.
Develop a dedicated strategy to address the role of algorithms, gaming platforms, encrypted
online networks and generative AI systems in facilitating the spread of antisemitic conspiracy
theories, extremist narratives and online-to-offline radicalisation.
Adopt a new counter-extremism strategy to address the culture of impunity surrounding
“hateful extremism” identified by the Commission for Countering Extremism in 2021; follow the
lead of Australia’s Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Act and introduce a
new legal framework to allow organisations to be designated as “prohibited hate groups” with
a range of accompanying offences; permanently ban Tehran’s annual Al Quds’ Day march; and
create an aggravated offence for “hate preachers” – religious, spiritual or other leaders who
advocate or threaten violence.
Establish a cross-departmental task force to tackle the Iranian domestic threat and identify
and dismantle soft influence networks that advance the regime’s objectives under the cover of
cultural, academic, charitable or media activity. This would include imposing sanctions
against Press TV, Tasnim News, Fars News and other platforms linked to the Iranian regime.
Conduct a thorough review of links between Iran and the charitable and NGO sector akin to
previous reviews of espionage and abuse in the sector carried out with regards to China.
Using new tools under the National Security Act, designate Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence
Services which, alongside the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has planned
kidnappings and assassinations against British citizens. Identify and sanction Iranian regime
oligarchs, elites and proxies in the UK, including expelling the supreme leader’s representative
in the UK. As Australia and other states have now done, the UK should also expel the Islamic
Republic’s ambassador.
