𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Antisemitism has “exploded like a volcano” in the UK, a top Israeli diplomat warned Keir Starmer on the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks.

Alex Gandler, official spokesperson of the Israeli embassy in Britain, told our podcast, the Daily Expresso, five days after two Jews died during an Islamist terrorist attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue: “The anti-Semitism that has been boiling here for the past few years has exploded like a volcano of stabbing and bullets and blood. I’m very sorry for what is happening here.”

He added that incitement is happening in Britain, especially through pro-Palestine marches. “It sounds to us quite peaceful,” Mr Gandler said. “People are marching for an idea. It’s nice, and it sounds as if there’s something grander than just an individual, those marches. But they’ve turned into something else. They’ve definitely turned into something that is detrimental to their cause.”

Hamas killed some 1,200 people and took around 250 captive two years ago today.

The slaughter made that day the bloodiest in Israel’s history, and the deadliest for Jews anywhere since the Holocaust.

When host JJ Anisiobi asked Mr Gandler if he feels safe while living and working in the UK, the representative said he feels less so, also mentioning that Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, said she wore a bulletproof vest when speaking in Manchester on Sunday.

“It’s hard to believe that our politicians, Israelis, have to walk around in fear of being shot here in England, in the UK.”

Mr Gandler added: “Security matters more to us now.

“It doesn’t mean we’ll stop working.”

“It makes us stronger,” he said.

The embassy spokesman also warned that Britain should not “turn a blind eye to whatever is happening.”

He said: “The marches, not everyone, but too many people in those marches have been saying things that are not similar to antisemitism but are antisemitism.

“Acknowledge the problem.

“Acknowledge that it’s happening here in the UK, that it needs to change and take responsibility over what is happening.”

The Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was told “stop the marches” by an angry crowd in Manchester on Friday, a day after Jihad Al-Shamie attacked worshippers on Yom Kippur.

Hecklers also shouted “go to Palestine, leave us alone” and “shame on you”.

Ahead of Mr Lammy’s speech, one man could be heard to shout: “My children’s school was closed today. You have allowed this to happen.

“You are all guilty. You have allowed Jew hatred in Manchester, on the streets. You are all guilty. We do not want you speaking here today.”

Another could be heard to shout, “Empty words. We want action.”

Others said “you’ve allowed it to grow on the campuses” and “you have blood on your hands”.

Sir Keir Starmer urged pro-Palestine campaigners not to protest in the Times on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister wrote that, in the UK, Jewish communities have “endured rising antisemitism on our streets, in our country”.

He added: “This is a stain on who we are, and this country will always stand tall and united against those who wish harm and hatred upon Jewish communities.”