New Home Office data reveals that Jewish individuals in England and Wales experienced hate crimes at a rate nine times higher than Muslims in the year ending March 2026. The figures show that Jews were victims of 116.5 hate offences per 10,000 people, compared with 13.3 per 10,000 among Muslims.
The data highlights a significant rise in racially and religiously motivated hate crimes, which reached record levels during the period. Anti-Semitic incidents increased by 10 percent to 3,162, while offences targeting Muslims rose by 15 percent to 5,132. These trends closely followed heightened tensions linked to conflicts in the Middle East, including the war between the United States and Iran and ongoing hostilities between Israel and Gaza.
October 2025 marked a peak in anti-Semitic hate crimes, with 274 incidents recorded in that month alone. This surge coincided with both the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 terror attacks by Hamas on Israel and the aftermath of a terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester. On October 2, 2025, Jihad Al-shamie, 35, drove into the gates of Heaton Park Synagogue before stabbing individuals while wearing a fake suicide belt, resulting in the deaths of Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby.
Anti-Semitic violence continued into 2026, including an arson attack in March that destroyed four ambulances belonging to the Jewish charity Hatzola in Golders Green, north London. Four men—Hamza Iqbal, Rehan Khan, Judex Atshatshi, and Saif Ali—pled guilty at the Old Bailey to charges related to reckless destruction of property. Prosecutors stated the attack appeared to be targeted against the Jewish community and caused approximately £4 million in damages.
The Home Office data further categorizes anti-Semitic hate crimes, with 45 percent linked to causing public fear, alarm, or distress, 17 percent involving criminal damage, 11 percent arising from malicious communications, and 9 percent involving physical assault.
The Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors anti-Semitic incidents, described the persistence of such hate crime as "unacceptably high." The organization emphasized the urgency of addressing incitement related to overseas conflicts and called for broader societal efforts to combat the problem.
During the same period, police recorded a total of 146,825 hate crimes in England and Wales, with religious hate crimes rising 13 percent and race-related offences accounting for approximately two-thirds of all hate crimes, increasing by 9 percent from the previous year. The Home Office linked spikes in anti-Muslim hate crimes to public disorder and protests in September 2025, as well as the outbreak of war between the US and Iran in March 2026.
The British Muslim Trust, a government-funded organization, reported verifying 78 attacks and incidents targeting Muslim places of worship over the 12 months to July, including vandalism and intimidation.
The latest official statistics were published shortly after multiple arrests took place during demonstrations in London marking the anniversary of the October 7 attacks. Some arrests involved charges of inciting racial hatred during a spontaneous protest near the Board of Deputies in Camden, though these incidents fall outside the official data reporting period.