UK Board of Deputies Report: Commission on Antisemitism

The Commission on Antisemitism, launched in response to the post–October 7 surge in anti-Semitism across the UK, found that Jews face growing hostility not only online and in protests but within mainstream institutions like the NHS, arts, education, and workplaces. The report outlines ten targeted recommendations to address these gaps, including standardized anti-Semitism training, more substantial support for Jewish staff networks, inclusion in EDI frameworks, and consistent policing practices. It urges immediate government and institutional action to ensure Jews receive equal protection and recognition as both an ethnic and a religious group.

The following is an executive summary of the commission's July 2025 report. For the full report, click here. 

Following the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the UK witnessed a sharp and deeply alarming rise in anti-Semitism. British Jews have reported feeling unsafe, unsupported, and increasingly isolated, with hostility manifesting not only in protests and online spaces but also in civil institutions, including schools, healthcare settings, cultural venues, and workplaces. In 2023, the Community Security Trust recorded an unprecedented 4,103 anti-Semitic incidents, and 2024 continued to show dangerously high levels.

In response, the Board of Deputies of British Jews launched a Commission on anti-Semitism, chaired by Lord Mann of Holbeck Moor and Dame Penny Mordaunt DBE. The Commission gathered extensive evidence through consultations with Jewish individuals, staff networks, students, trade unionists, NHS employees, the arts community, and external bodies such as the police and the Electoral Commission. This work revealed widespread inconsistency in institutional responses to anti-Semitism and a systemic failure to ensure Jews receive the same protections afforded to other vulnerable groups under Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) frameworks.

The Commission’s findings emphasize that anti-Semitism is often not recognized as racism, leading to its exclusion from EDI training and institutional accountability. It recommends ten practical, sector-specific interventions to close these protection gaps:

1. Support for Jewish Staff Networks: Encourage Jewish communal organizations to support informal Jewish staff networks across industries, enhancing internal communication and well-being.
2. Recognition of Jewish Identity as Both Ethnicity and Religion: Urge HR departments and institutions to treat Judaism not just as a religion but as an ethnic identity to address anti-Semitic incidents better.
3. Standardized Training Qualification: Establish a national ‘Anti-semitism Training Qualification’ to ensure educators and trainers deliver consistent, high-quality education on contemporary anti-Semitism.
4. Mandatory Inclusion in EDI Programs: Make education on anti-Semitism a required element of all sectors of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion training.
5. Faith School Curriculum Reform: Expand and evaluate the Winchester Diocese’s initiative to train primary school teachers to avoid Christian-based anti-Semitic tropes and roll it out nationwide.
6. Addressing anti-Semitism in the NHS: Convene a UK-wide NHS summit and mandate basic anti-Semitism training across all NHS Trusts, following evidence of underreported and unaddressed anti-Semitic behavior affecting both staff and patients.
7. Neutrality in Welfare and Security Roles: Implement policies ensuring that professionals in care, health, and security roles maintain neutrality in attire, symbols, and associations to preserve trust and safety for Jewish individuals.
8. Protection within Professional Bodies: Ensure trade unions and professional bodies fulfill their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 to protect Jewish members, especially where membership is essential for employment. Where this fails, establish third-party support systems.
9. Tackling Discrimination in the Arts: Enforce anti-discrimination standards tied to public funding and private-sector contracts, with robust consequences for violators, to combat hidden barriers to Jewish participation in the arts.
10. Consistent Policing Standards: Call on the Police Chiefs Council and College of Policing to unify procedures for handling anti-Semitic crimes and treat coordinated anti-Semitic activity as organized crime when applicable.

The Commission concludes that while the UK Jewish community is well-organized and has seen successes in areas like university representation and sports inclusion, complacency is dangerous. The community increasingly feels “tolerated rather than respected.” These recommendations are offered as a precise, urgent call to action for government, institutions, and society at large to ensure that, as the report’s co-chairs stress, Jews must count.

Source: “Commission on Antisemitism, a Board of Deputies Initiative,” Board of Deputies, (July 2025).