Antisemitic incidents spiked after Vylan set, charity says

Reports of antisemitic hate incidents in the UK spiked a day after punk duo Bob Vylan's controversial Glastonbury performance, according to figures from a Jewish security charity.

Jewish communities are facing "extreme levels of Jew-hatred", the Community Security Trust (CST) said.

The organisation, which monitors antisemitism in the UK, said a total of 1,521 antisemitic incidents were reported in the first half of 2025.

It was the second-highest number of its kind reported to CST, but down by a quarter from a record high in the first half of last year.

During the set, singer Pascal Robinson-Foster, who performs under the stage name Bobby Vylan, also made a speech about a record label boss he used to work for.

That boss would "speak very strongly about his support for Israel", and had put his name to a letter urging Glastonbury to cancel Irish-language rap trio Kneecap's performance, the musician said.

The singer said: "Who do I see on that list of names but that bald-headed [expletive] I used to work for? We've done it all, all right - from working in bars to working for [expletive] Zionists."

After the media coverage of their set, Bob Vylan said in a statement: "We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people. We are for the dismantling of a violent military machine."

The second-worst day for what the CST described as "anti-Jewish hate" was 17 May, with 19 incidents, a day after Israel announced an expansion of its military operation in Gaza.

The CST said: "Both of these cases illustrate how sentiment and rhetoric towards Israel and Zionism influence, shape and drive contemporary anti-Jewish discourse, online and offline, often around totemic events that grab mainstream public attention."

Just over half (51%) of all incidents in the first half of this year "referenced or were linked to Israel, Palestine, the Hamas terror attack (of 7 October 2023) or the subsequent outbreak of conflict", the CST said.

Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas's attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken to Gaza as hostages.

More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel's military campaign, according to the territory's health ministry.