Israel’s ambassador to the UK has told i that the Jewish community in Britain has not felt safe since the war between Tel Aviv and Hamas broke out.
In an interview in her embassy office, following a 43-minute screening of graphic video footage of Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October, Tzipi Hotovely said: “I think many people are not feeling safe. I think antisemitism is really intensifying.”
Ms Hotovely added that recent protests in London and other cities should result in the arrests of those abusing Israel and Jewish people if the UK was serious about tackling the rise in antisemitic hate crimes since the war began.
According to the Metropolitan Police, there has been a 1,350 per cent in antisemitic crimes since 7 October. Islamophobic offences have also risen 140 per cent over the past four weeks.
“In London, what we’ve seen in the last few weeks – the demonstrations, the ones that call for jihad, and some people on the streets of London that glorify those horrible, barbaric, terrible actions you’ve just seen – this is something that should be under hate crimes.
“I hope that in the future, we’ll see that people that are calling for intifada, jihad, glorifying Hamas’ actions against innocent Jews, will see the law apply to their hate crimes.”
The ambassador added that she is grateful for the support for Israel from both the Government and Opposition Leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir have called for humanitarian pauses in the fighting to allow aid to get through to the Gaza strip, which is under bombardment from Israel. The Opposition leader has faced rebellion over his Israel and Gaza policy with senior Labour figures calling for a ceasefire, which he has refused to do.
Asked if the Labour Party still had an issue with antisemitism following the Jeremy Corbyn years at the helm of the party, Ms Hotovely compared Labour’s “problem” alongside side that of a wider issue with Israel from across the UK.
“The Prime Minister is committed to the safety of Jewish people and Labour is committed,” she said. “So, I can tell you the important people in this country definitely understand what it means to have antisemitism on the streets and how dangerous it can get.
“Keir Starmer said that he wants to make sure that antisemitism, antisemites won’t be part of the Labour Party.
“So, I think you can see the challenges are bigger, because you can see there is antisemitism on the streets of London. Whoever you are in leadership in the UK, they need to deal with this, not just in Labour, it’s broader than that.”
This story contains descriptions of violence that some people may find distressing.
Referring to the footage that she watched alongside UK reporters, Ms Hotovely said: “This is not easy for us to show you, but you need to report what happened, what caused this war.
“In the 27 days since this war was started by the barbaric actions of Hamas, some in the UK media are even doubting the fact that what took place on 7 October was even a terror attack.
“I want to ask your forgiveness for showing you this, but we believe it is important that we do.”
The video, which was edited together using mobile phone and bodycam footage from both Hamas fighters and Israeli victims, CCTV images and vehicle dashcam film, shows the horror of the attacks in graphic and distressing detail.
The coverage of the Hamas atrocity was collated by the Israeli Defense Force from hundreds of hours of footage gathered since the attack, and includes clips of Hamas gunmen cheering as they shoot civilians on the road to Kibbutz Be’eri, and footage of them killing parents and children in their homes.
More than 1,000 Hamas fighters are understood to have crossed the border from Gaza into Israel during the attack and were initially met with minimal Israeli resistance, following a transfer of forces amid rising tensions in the West Bank.
In one clip a Hamas gunman is seen firing at the dead bodies of civilians inside the kibbutz. There is also mobile phone footage from some of the victims in safe rooms and shelters, as the sound of gunfire and explosions gets closer to their hiding places.
Another video shows a father running with his two young boys to seek shelter from the attack in an above-ground shelter.
Seconds after they take refuge, a Hamas fighter throws a grenade inside, killing the father and injuring the boys. Covered in blood the boys stagger back to their home, screaming. A Hamas gunman follows them into their kitchen, taking a drink from the fridge before walking past them and out of the house.
Israel has not confirmed whether or not the boys, one of whom was apparently blinded by the grenade, survived.
Footage also includes the deliberate shooting of babies and young children, and the capture of some of the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
The footage of the music festival includes the burned and mutilated bodies of dozens of young victims.
More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed since the Hamas attack on 7 October, according to Israeli authorities – the vast majority in the initial assault. More than 220 are also believed to have been taken hostage inside Gaza.
Israel began bombing Gaza and cut off fuel, food and other supplies after Hamas’s attack.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims 8,796 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since Israel’s air and subsequent ground assault began. This includes, according to Hamas, 3,648 children.
