The United Kingdom’s Jewish community, already reeling from a deadly terror attack at a Manchester synagogue, now finds itself at the center of a political maelstrom involving Israel, Britain’s major parties, and the controversial figure of Tommy Robinson. The past week has seen a cascade of events and statements that have inflamed tensions, exposed deep divisions, and left many British Jews feeling caught in the crossfire of international and domestic political agendas.
On October 4, 2025, tragedy struck the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester. According to reports cited by Jewish News and The National, Jihad al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent, rammed his vehicle into a group of worshippers, killing Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, and injuring four others. Al-Shamie, who was out on bail for an alleged rape charge, was shot dead by police after attempting to stab additional congregants. The attack, described as the bloodiest against Britain’s Jewish community since October 7, 2023, sent shockwaves through the country and reignited urgent debates over antisemitism, policing, and community security.
Within days, the political fallout began to escalate. On October 3, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, extended an official invitation to far-right activist Tommy Robinson to visit Israel later in the month. Chikli, a Likud Member of Knesset known for his sharp critiques of left-wing diaspora groups and the UK Labour government’s positions on Palestinian statehood, praised Robinson as a “courageous leader” against radical Islam. As reported by the Jewish Chronicle and other outlets, Chikli declared on X (formerly Twitter): “In the wake of the horrific Manchester terrorist attack, Israel and the Jewish people stand firmly with our allies in the United Kingdom... Tommy is a courageous leader on the front line against radical Islam. He has proven himself a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people, unafraid to speak the truth and confront hate.”
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon and who founded the anti-Islam English Defence League, quickly accepted the offer. He outlined plans to visit Jerusalem, the West Bank, the site of the October 7, 2023, Nova Festival massacre, Yad Vashem Holocaust center, the Jabotinsky Institute, and Christian holy sites, immediately following his October 13 contempt of court trial. In his own statement on X, Robinson wrote: “The Manchester attack has strengthened my conviction that the United Kingdom and Israel are fighting the same battle, against the scourge of Islamic jihad. If Israel falls, we all fall.” According to Jewish News, the Israeli government will be covering Robinson’s flights and accommodations.
The invitation triggered an immediate and fierce backlash from Britain’s leading Jewish organizations. In a joint statement, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council condemned Chikli’s decision, stating: “Tommy Robinson is a thug who represents the very worst of Britain. His presence undermines those genuinely working to tackle Islamist extremism and foster community cohesion. Minister Chikli has proven himself to be a Diaspora Minister in name only. In our darkest hour, he has ignored the views of the vast majority of British Jews who utterly and consistently reject Robinson and everything he stands for.” The statement was widely shared and amplified by outlets such as Jewish News and the Jewish Chronicle.
Chikli, for his part, fired back the next day, accusing the Board of Deputies of transforming into a “political organization, openly aligned with left-wing, woke, pro-Palestinian parties.” The sharp exchange highlighted a growing rift between sections of Israel’s government and mainstream British Jewish leadership, a split that has only deepened amid the ongoing debate over the UK’s approach to antisemitism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Prominent British figures also weighed in. Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, former Conservative co-chair, called the invitation “deeply dangerous behavior” that risked sowing further division among British Jews. Sunder Katwala, director of the Fabian Society, warned of the dangers in elevating a figure with Robinson’s record, which includes multiple convictions for assault, fraud, and contempt, as reported by The National and New Arab. Interfaith and anti-racism advocates described the invitation as an “alarming alignment” between Israel and a “fascist provocateur,” raising questions about the wisdom of such diaspora outreach at a time of surging European antisemitism.
On social media, reactions were predictably polarized. Some users praised Robinson’s warnings about Islamist threats, while others expressed outrage at what they saw as the mainstreaming of a divisive figure. One viral post by a citizen investigator framed the backlash as a sign of elite discomfort with uncomfortable truths, but the overall tenor was one of heightened anxiety and anger within the Jewish community.
As the controversy over Robinson’s invitation raged, the Conservative Party conference in Manchester became a new front in the debate over Britain’s relationship with Israel and its handling of antisemitism. On October 5, at a Conservative Friends of Israel event, shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel accused the Labour Party of being “complicit” in abuse towards the Jewish community and of having “lost any moral purpose.” According to the Press Association, Dame Priti told party members, “These are shocking and difficult times for the Jewish community, and made all the worse by Labour’s dreadful decisions, which have actively undermined our relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel.” She further accused Labour of supporting a Palestinian Authority with a “pay-to-slay” policy—providing financial payments to families of those who attack Israel and are killed or detained—and claimed that Labour’s stance had “damaged our national interests and made it harder for Britain to help chart that course towards a sustainable end to this terrible conflict and bring peace to the region.”
Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, echoed these sentiments at the same event, describing Labour’s recognition of the state of Palestine as a “grotesque betrayal of truth, of justice and of Britain’s Jewish community.” Haskel argued, “It was a betrayal of truth because it rewarded Hamas, the terror regime that murders civilians and still holds 48 hostages in dungeons of terror. It was a betrayal of justice, because it tells the families of the murdered and the kidnapped that their suffering can be brushed aside for political convenience. And it was a betrayal of Britain’s own Jews, because it echoes the dangerous message that Jewish security is negotiable, that appeasing extremism matters more than defending morality.”
Haskel also claimed that uncontrolled immigration, particularly from Islamist communities, was “reshaping” British society and “fuelling antisemitism on your streets.” She warned that this was “importing the demonisation of Jews and the hatred of the Middle East into British cities,” citing recent pro-Palestinian marches and incidents of intimidation against Jewish students and families as evidence.
Hosting the event was Lord Eric Pickles, the UK’s special envoy for post-Holocaust issues, who offered a pointed critique: “The problem that we have is that politicians are really good at feeling sorry for dead Jews, but they’re not so good at looking after live ones.”
With Labour yet to issue a formal response, the events of the past week have left Britain’s Jewish community grappling with fresh wounds and difficult questions about their place in a country and a world where political gestures, both at home and abroad, can so easily become sources of pain rather than comfort. For many, the urgent need remains not just for solidarity in words, but for meaningful action that prioritizes safety, dignity, and genuine community cohesion over divisive rhetoric and political point-scoring.
