Antisemitism is ‘running amok’ in Britain, Trump’s ambassador says as he urges Starmer to crackdown on protesters making parts of UK ‘no-go zones’ for Jewish people

Donald Trump’s antisemitism tsar warned that Jew hatred was ‘running wild’ in Britain as he called on Sir Keir Starmer to quell protests.

Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun said he was ‘inundated’ with requests from British Jews ‘asking for our help’ during the two-day visit.

‘Coming to the UK was a priority for my office,’ he said Telegram. ‘Because we have been inundated with calls from people across the UK asking for our help in working with the Government to help stem the tide of antisemitism running rampant in many parts of the UK.’

Reports of antisemitism in the UK have risen to record levels since the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, according to a report by The Community Security Trust.

Last year alone, 3,700 hate incidents against Jews were recorded.

Rabbi Kaploun said the ‘alarming’ statistics represented a ‘tremendous breakdown in law and order’ under Starmer’s leadership.

He added: ‘This is a sad record because we live in a society where instead of working on programs to reduce antisemitism we are seeing a massive increase.

‘It’s a sad indictment that we haven’t learned the lessons of history to protect our children and give them a better future.’

He called on Sir Keir Starmer to take action to stop anti-Semitic protests across the country (Image: Starmer at 10 Downing Street on 11 February 2025)

On October 2, 2025, two men were killed when Cihah Al-Shamie targeted the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in a terrorist attack.

Al-Shamie was shot dead at the scene by police after crashing his car into a place of worship and stabbing Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, to death.

In a 999 phone call immediately after the murders, he reportedly told dispatchers: ‘I killed two Jews in the name of the Islamic State.’

Rabbi Kaploun accused the authorities of allowing antisemitism to grow in Britain in the lead-up to the attack, which he said was ultimately inevitable.

‘This did not occur in a vacuum,’ the Orthodox rabbi admitted. ‘If cases of antisemitism are going to increase over the course of three years, this will increase further.

‘And if it goes unchecked and goes without law and order, which is the basis for people to live freely, then you will suffer the unfortunate consequences that occurred in Manchester on Yom Kippur.’

Police launched an investigation this week after a group of pro-Palestinian campaigners were accused of taking part in a ‘Jew hunt’ by going door-to-door in Sheffield demanding locals boycott Israeli products.

Campaigner Jean Hatchet and her partner encountered members of the Sheffield Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ) campaign while walking in the Woodseats area of ​​the northern city on Sunday.

On 2 October 2025, two men were killed when Cihah Al-Shamie (pictured) targeted a synagogue in Manchester.

Following the attack, a moment of silence was held in front of Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation for 53-year-old Adrian Daulby and 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz.

The argument turned ugly when Miss Hatchet and her partner shouted ‘Jew Hunt’ at the trio. One of the men appeared to headbutt Ms. Hatchet’s partner.

Later, after being followed outside a local Asda, another activist takes a sign from Miss Hatchet’s partner’s hand and folds it; Video footage shows the woman’s hand grabbing the backpack before turning around.

Police said they were investigating several reports of assault. They are also investigating whether video footage of the events was ‘edited’.

Sheffield AFZ is one of several grassroots groups that have emerged to encourage people not to support Israeli companies amid the country’s ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.

But critics say such groups can actually promote antisemitism or intimidate Jewish people if confronted on their own doorsteps.

Ms Hatchet, who is not Jewish, told the Daily Mail that she and her partner went to find the door knockers after being alerted to their activities on social media.

He later shared multiple videos of the confrontation online. Some were filmed on her phone, while others were captured on her partner’s body-worn camera, which appeared to be worn under a jacket.

“We thought we would go there and see what they were doing,” Ms. Hatchet said.

‘That was our sole intention, to see if it was as bad as it looked and was said to be.

‘We found these guys on the street and as you can see in the video there were a few questions about what they wanted to do.

‘They were distributing leaflets stating that they were targeting a specific group of people’ [Jews] Even if they don’t say their names.

Pro-Palestinian activists got into a row in Sheffield last weekend with people who accused them of ‘hunting for Jews’.

Jean Hatchet’s partner (pictured) held a banner saying ‘There is no tolerance for Jew hatred’

‘One of the men stopped in the road and headbutted him. We started calling out what we thought they were doing as “Jew hunting”, trying to shame them into leaving, and it worked.

‘They packed up and headed down the street. We were walking behind them when one of them grabbed my partner’s sign. He reached out to grab it and was attacked. He reported this to the police.”

Ms Hatchet said video footage showing the man in red stumbling backwards before headbutting his partner was the result of a ‘very steep hill’ and claimed the man was in her path.

AFZ activists say they advocate boycotting Israeli products because Israel ‘develops with international support’.

A brochure available online reads: ‘When we choose not to buy Israeli goods, it hits them where it hurts the most: their economy. Boycotts have worked before.

‘They were a powerful factor in ending apartheid in South Africa, and together we can make them successful again.’

Last week Jewish activists in Brighton accused pro-Palestinian campaigners of engaging in a ‘campaign of intimidation’ by knocking on locals’ doors and asking them to boycott Israeli products.

Members of the Brighton and Hove Apartheid-Free Zone group were filmed going door to door in the city on February 7, asking residents to sign a pledge against goods produced in Israel.

The group says it expresses solidarity with Palestinians killed and displaced in Gaza, inspired by the Anti-Apartheid Movement that targeted South Africa in the second half of the 20th century.

But local Jewish activists accused the group of running a targeted campaign to incite antisemitism against British Jews.

Israeli boycott groups, such as Brighton and Hove AFZ, emerged in greater numbers following Israel’s offensive on Gaza following Hamas attacks on 7 October that killed more than 1,200 people, most of them Israelis.

Since then, an estimated 72,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the war with Hamas, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Authority. It also destroyed much of the Gaza Strip and displaced 1.9 million Palestinians.

Israel’s actions in Gaza under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have led to accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing, which Israel denies.

However, behind campaigns such as AFZ and calls to boycott companies doing business with the state and companies of Israeli origin, there are those who believe that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians.

In the years since the October 7 attacks and Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, there has also been a rise in anti-Semitic incidents across Britain.

A YouGov poll commissioned by the Campaign Against Antisemitism last year also found that half of young Brits are uncomfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel.

It also found that half of Britons believe Israel treats Palestinians the same way the Nazis treated Jews.