Antisemitism on UK campuses remains high

What's happened

The CST reports 178 university-related antisemitic incidents across 2024–26, with 95 in 2025–26, up from 83 the year before. Abusive behaviour accounts for the majority; student actors are the largest group, while staff involvement is rising. British officials promise zero-tolerance and action to protect Jewish students and staff.

What's behind the headline?

Analysis

• The numbers show a persistent rise in antisemitic incidents on campus since the October 2023 trigger, though there was a partial dip in some years before rising again.
• The largest share of incidents involves abusive behaviour, indicating a normalization of hostile language in campus spaces.
• Staff involvement is increasing, which complicates enforcement and requires clearer disciplinary pathways.
• Policy responses emphasize zero tolerance and staff training, but confidence in disciplinary effectiveness remains a concern.
• The data suggests that political and ideological framing (Israel/Gaza) is commonly intertwined with antisemitic actions, challenging universities to separate criticism from hostility.

How we got here

Following Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, antisemitic incidents surged in UK universities. CST’s latest findings show incidents remain elevated relative to pre-2023 levels, with 2024–25 marked by two extreme-violence incidents and a notable share of incidents linked to Israel/Gaza discourse.

Our analysis

BBC Business, The Times of Israel, Reuters all report CST’s 178 incidents across 2024–26 with 95 in 2025–26. The Times notes 63% of known victims were Jewish students; Reuters highlights 16 staff-perpetrated incidents and government calls for zero tolerance; BBC details the rise from 53 incidents in 2022–23 to 272 in 2023–24 and subsequent fluctuations.

Go deeper

• What steps will universities take to restore confidence in disciplinary processes?
• Are there patterns in incidents by campus type (medical schools, social sciences, engineering)?
• How is government funding being used to support staff training and reporting?

More on these topics

• United Kingdom - Country in Europe

  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north­western coast of the European mainland.

• Hamas

  Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist militant organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

• Israel - Country in the Middle East

  Israel, formally known as the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia, located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea.

• Community Security Trust - British charity

  The Community Security Trust (CST) is a British charity whose stated mission is to provide safety, security, and advice to the Jewish community in the UK. It provides advice, training, representation and research.

• Gaza - Wikimedia disambiguation page

  Gaza most commonly refers to: Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip Gaza may also refer to: