Jewish communities brace for rising hatred

French Jewry is on the brink of a coordinated attack, with community members in some cases behaving almost like crypto-Jews. In the UK, people avoid wearing a kippah in public, while Australian Jews are experiencing unprecedented levels of antisemitism.

Since Oct. 7, antisemitism has been driven by pro-Palestinians. In Europe, flooded with Muslims from across the Middle East, the result is the most severe escalation since the Holocaust, with phenomena reminiscent of those darkest days.

Alex Lalush, who immigrated from France to Israel about 25 years ago, chairs the Hebrew Ulpan Forum, a program overseeing Hebrew language courses for new immigrants, paints a grim picture.

“Since the start of the war, violent incidents in France on antisemitic grounds have increased by 300%,” he said. “Unlike in the past, we’re seeing overt antisemitism in parliament. There’s a feeling that it’s very unsafe to be Jewish.”

France

France, which already had a very high antisemitism threshold before Oct. 7, is probably the most problematic country, and perhaps the most dangerous for Jews living there.

In late August, a pro-Palestinian carrying an Israeli flag approached the Beit Yaakov synagogue in the city of La Grande-Motte. Security cameras showed him setting fire to two vehicles parked at the entrance, at least one of which contained a gas cylinder, which exploded. A police officer was injured in the incident.

“Jews not only remove Jewish symbols but also avoid having packages delivered directly to their homes, or have the security guard receive things for them, to prevent strangers from coming to the door,” Edna Weinstock-Gabay, CEO of Keren Hayesod, a fundraising organization for Israel described. These phenomena indicate that Jews are indeed afraid of a coordinated attack, and signs of such an attack are certainly present on the ground.

Despite the notable difficulties, Emmanuel Zion, head of the Jewish Agency delegation in France, said that Jews in the country are not giving up their solidarity with Israel: “The Jewish community organizes rallies supporting Israel and calling for the release of the hostages regularly every week, in addition to large support events from time to time.”

Although France is ostensibly the most problematic place, there is also significant escalation in countries where it was previously safe to be Jewish and where there is a clear concentration of Jews.

UK

One of the prominent countries is the United Kingdom, home to hundreds of thousands of Jews, which has been suffering from severe antisemitism since the outbreak of the Gaza war.

“ The atmosphere among politicians is causing antisemites, who were relatively quiet until now, to be more active now,” Lalush said.

“How has the situation in the UK reached a point where I’m more worried about my daughter, who walks around with a Star of David around her neck, than about my son serving in the military?” David Wolfson, a member of the House of Lords, raged a few weeks after the war began. He later said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Globes that “the Jewish community in the UK is like a frog in hot water.”

A report published a few months ago by the Anti-Defamation League revealed that while there were 1,662 antisemitic incidents in the country in 2022, in 2023 there were 4,103 such incidents. The number of physical attacks increased from 136 to 266.

In June, more than 20 Barclays bank branches were vandalized by pro-Palestinians, due to alleged claims of connections to Israel.

“This is a neighborhood with many Jews, and I’m a member of a WhatsApp group of 1,000 Jewish women. We’re disgusted and shocked by what’s happening here, some are scared. Jews are already starting to talk about moving to Israel, Miami, or villages in England, where there’s a less threatening feeling,” a Jewish resident of London said.

In an attempt to protect British Jews, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in March a grant of $92 million to secure schools, kindergartens, synagogues, and Jewish community centers. Recently, a bus line was also launched that travels between Jewish communities across London to provide residents with a sense of security.

“The Jewish community in Britain is the second largest in Europe and has been experiencing increased antisemitic incidents since the war,” Avi Cohen-Scali, Director General of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. “The community is demonstrating impressive resilience despite facing relentless antisemitism in the public sphere since Oct. 7.”

“We’ve significantly increased investment in Europe, through the Security Assistance Fund, to protect and strengthen communities,” Weinstock-Gabay said. “We’ve seen how a secure synagogue door prevented a major attack. Therefore, we’re investing quite a bit in training professional teams that work for community security and have increased manpower.”

Australia

In the 24 hours following Oct. 7, the Opera House in Sydney was illuminated in blue and white colors, as a sign of solidarity with the State of Israel. Solidarity was at its peak, and many Jews mobilized to help Israelis in distress, whether through demonstrations or donations. One of the donations was groundbreaking — advanced medical equipment that helped treat soldiers injured in Gaza suffering from complex burns through the implantation of artificial skin.

A year later, it seems that Australian Jewry needs help itself, due to antisemitic manifestations never seen before. As in almost every other place in the world, they hide Jewish symbols, and in extreme cases even change their identities, due to threats to their lives.

“These are things we haven’t seen,” Dafna, an Israeli living in the country said. “There are threats to synagogues and Jewish schools, demonstrations on campuses, and more. It’s scary.” Indeed, dealing with antisemitism in Australia seems almost disconnected.

Australia is home to a sizeable Jewish community that typically focuses on local concerns. The country’s connection to Israel is usually most visible during New Year’s celebrations, which Australia, due to its time zone, marks before most other nations. This annual event often serves as a primary point of engagement between Australia and Israel.

However, antisemitism is certainly present in Australia, and it intensified following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October. While not as widespread as in some European countries, the incidents are still deeply troubling. A particularly alarming event occurred in May 2023, months before the current conflict, when a 15-year-old boy planned an attack against the Jewish community. He tried to recruit his friends, saying: “I want to do this to a bunch of Jews. What about Palestine, I want to attack Jews here.”

A few months ago, details of a WhatsApp group created after Oct. 7 by one of the Jewish communities to provide support to its members were leaked. A New York Times journalist accidentally exposed the group’s details, and pro-Palestinian activists collected pictures and details of more than 600 Jews. Some of the people on the list received explicit death threats, including a 5-year-old child whose picture was distributed. A Jewish family was forced to go underground.

As a result of the escalation, the Jewish community began to significantly increase security for educational institutions and synagogues, and in some cases also for families and individuals who received threats.

It should be noted that the Jewish community in Australia is characterized by being very Zionist and devoted to the people of Israel, and Israelis and Jews in the country make it clear that this has not changed even in the wake of the attacks.

South America

About two months ago, hundreds gathered in Panama. In the presence of then-Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and Rabbi Eliahu Hamra, rabbi of the AMIA community in Argentina, those present inaugurated a new community center.

“I met a vibrant Jewish community, which is a model of renewal and preservation of tradition,” Rabbi Hamra later wrote on his X account. Last week, massive Jewish events were held with the participation of the most significant rabbis in the ultra-Orthodox-Israeli public in Panama and throughout Brazil.

These events, while not particularly dramatic but rather routine, symbolize more than anything the significant dissonance in South American countries.

On one hand, some of the countries’ leaderships are extremely anti-Israel — the President of Brazil called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “Hitler,” and the prime minister of Colombia declared the severance of relations with Israel, although this did not actually happen.

On the other hand, the residents of those countries, Jews and also some of those who are not Jewish, are openly pro-Israel. This stark contrast between government positions and public sentiment creates a complex political landscape in these South American nations.

Brazil is a prime example of this.

“There’s a huge difference there between the defined policy of the governments versus the residents. In Brazil, the government is not friendly to Israel, but the people are actually not against Israel,” Weinstock-Gabay explained. Thus, while the Brazilian President constantly attacks Israel, students of the Jewish school in São Paulo held a festive and public ceremony last week with prominent rabbis, including the ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch.

“There’s a rise in antisemitism and it can’t be ignored,” Weinstock-Gabay said. “This is due, among other things, to the Palestinian community which is considered the largest outside the Palestinian Authority. But in Latin America, relatively speaking, the situation is better.”

Argentina is one of the more Israel-friendly countries these days. In February, President Javier Milei met with Netanyahu and declared that he would declare Hamas a terrorist organization and prayed at the Western Wall, with Argentina’s ambassador to Israel being his rabbi.

There’s also prominent antisemitism in Argentina. “It’s aimed at the younger generation: in schools, sports clubs, and universities,” Weinstock-Gabay said.

Students stopped wearing their school uniforms for fear of being attacked on the street, racist comments were heard during sports games and on public transportation. Parents are afraid every time the children leave the house in the face of expressions of hatred we thought we’d never see again.”

At the same time, there was quite a bit of flourishing in the Jewish community precisely during the crisis. “Despite the great distance, Jewish communities in South America and Australia have a close connection with the State of Israel, especially since Oct. 7,” Cohen-Scali said.

“Members of these communities have visited Israel several times since the outbreak of the war and volunteered in various activities, aiming to assist where needed and to express solidarity.

“The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs conducts extensive activity in Latin America in the field of formal and informal education, including Hebrew language instruction, connecting to Jewish identity, and strengthening community resilience — and we will continue to strengthen this connection.”