LONDON, Aug 5, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Antisemitic incidents in the UK soared by 21 percent in the first six months of 2026 amid the US-Israel war on Iran, compared to the same period last year, a Jewish charity said Wednesday.

"These attacks are directed against British Jews, but they are also attacks on Britain and our society," said Mark Gardner, chief executive of the Community Security Trust (CST).

The charity reported 1,926 anti-Jewish hate incidents between January and June, including assaults, arson attacks and the late April stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green, a London suburb with a long-established Jewish population.

"This is the second-highest total ever reported" for the first half of any year, the CST said.

The figures compared to 1,598 incidents recorded in the first half of 2025.

The Golders Green stabbing led to a hike in daily antisemitic attacks and abuse, the charity said.

It recorded 71 incidents in the three days following the stabbing, 16 of which directly referenced the attack.

"Some incidents celebrated the violence and called for further injuries to Jewish people, or used the incident to promote antisemitic conspiracy theories and anti-Jewish abuse," the CST said.

A little-known group linked to Tehran, the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, also known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), has claimed responsibility for seven attacks.

In one attack four ambulances belonging to Hatzola -- a Jewish charity that provides an ambulance service for the Jewish and wider community -- were torched in London's Golders Green area in March.

In July the UK government sanctioned HAYI, pledging its "commitment to protect the Jewish community."

Members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) Qods Force were also accused by the UK government of "sitting behind" antisemitic attacks carried out by HAYI.

"The United Kingdom has identified activity linked to the IRGC involving threats to life and intimidation on UK soil," Home Office minister Angela Eagle said last month.

Antisemitic incidents in the UK have risen sharply since the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered Israel's war on Palestinian militants in Gaza, the CST reported.

Policing minister Sarah Jones called the latest numbers "appalling", adding "we must never stop fighting to rid society of this evil".

"We are investing a record œ250 million to boost policing in Jewish neighbourhoods," she said.