A UK magistrate has been formally reprimanded for making social media comments deemed prejudicial towards Jewish people and Israel. Ansar Gulzar was disciplined by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) following a complaint by a campaign group regarding his Facebook posts.

The posts in question included a message posted on October 2, 2025, coinciding with a terrorist attack at a Manchester synagogue that resulted in two fatalities. In that post, Mr. Gulzar expressed sympathy for the victims but questioned why attacks on Jewish individuals appeared to coincide with Israel's efforts to distract media attention. The JCIO concluded that these remarks “held a prejudicial view” and carried the “potential to cause emotional harm and undermine public confidence in the judiciary.”

Additional posts reviewed by the JCIO included one from June 2025, which linked the history of American slaves to Israel, stating: “America has a long & brutal history of slave trade. Africans were American slaves between 16th & 19th century. Americans are Israeli slaves from 19th century.” Another post from January 17, 2026, reportedly portrayed Israel as a uniquely manipulative actor responsible for destabilizing nations across the Middle East.

In its ruling, the JCIO acknowledged that Mr. Gulzar took full responsibility for the posts after confirming authorship. The office characterized the posts as addressing “highly controversial and political matters” and determined that they had a detrimental effect on public trust in the judicial system.

UK Lawyers for Israel, which lodged the complaint, criticized the magistrate’s comments as advancing a conspiratorial narrative that linked violence against Jewish people with Israeli political motives aimed at manipulating media coverage.

In response to the findings, Mr. Gulzar said he believed the posts were visible only to family and friends and were not intended for public discussion. He has been approached for further comment.