American rabbi urges UK leadership to tackle growing anti-Jewish threat

US special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism, Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, warned that antisemitism is “running amok” in the United Kingdom and urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take decisive action against anti-Jewish protests.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Kaploun said that during a two-day visit to the UK, he had been “inundated” with requests for assistance from British Jews.

“Coming to England was a priority for my office, because we have been inundated by calls from people within the UK to ask our assistance in working with the government to help stem the tide of anti-Semitism, which has been running amok in the UK throughout many of its regions,” he said.

According to the Community Security Trust, antisemitic incidents in the UK reached record levels following the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, with 3,700 incidents reported last year. Kaplun described the figures as evidence of a tremendous failure of law enforcement under Starmer’s leadership.

“It’s a record that is sad because we’re dealing in a society that, instead of being able to work on programmes that decrease anti-Semitism, we’re seeing a tremendous rise in anti-Semitism in the UK,” he added, stressing that the situation serves as a reminder that society has not learned historical lessons, putting future generations at risk.

Kaploun, known for his work combating antisemitism in the US, said immediate action is needed in the UK to halt protests fueled by anti-Jewish hatred. He also criticised authorities for allowing antisemitism to flourish, creating an environment in which the murder of two Jews at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester became, in his view, almost inevitable.

He emphasised that the attack did not occur in a vacuum and warned that if antisemitism continues to grow over the next three years, it will inevitably escalate. The lack of law and order necessary for protecting freedom, he said, will inevitably lead to tragic consequences, as occurred in Manchester on Yom Kippur.

By Jeyhun Aghazada