The UK office of Israeli education organization StandWithUs, located in London, was broken into on Israeli Independence Day on Wednesday, with a threatening message left by the burglars, according to the organization.
Staff at StandWithUs UK arrived on Wednesday morning and found that perpetrators had broken through the ceiling of the office and left a lit memorial candle next to a StandWithUs t-shirt.
StandWithUs UK has reached out to the police and Community Security Trust and is working with them as they investigate the incident.
“Our staff were shaken but are determined. We remain committed to our mission, of working tirelessly towards countering antisemitism and misinformation about Israel, regardless of this hateful attempt to intimidate us," said StandWithUs UK executive director, Isaac Zarfati. "This intimidation is indicative of what Jewish and Zionist students face regularly from those who seek to discriminate against them. It will not stand.”
StandWithUs works to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about antisemitism and anti-Zionism and to fight antisemitism and anti-Zionism around the world.
Antisemitism fell in past year in the UK
In February, the Community Security Trust reported that the number of antisemitic incidents in Britain last year fell by more than a quarter from a record high seen in 2021, but an increasing number of children are becoming victims of hatred.
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises Britain’s estimated 280,000 Jews on security matters, recorded 1,652 anti-Jewish incidents in 2022, down 27% from the number the previous year.
In March, UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman announced new security measures to protect the Jewish communities as part of the Jewish Community Protective Security grant.
The grant will be used to increase by £1 million protective security such as security guards, CCTV and other alarm systems, according to the official UK government site.
A new Jewish Community Police and Security Taskforce will be formed as well by senior police leaders, ministers and the Community Security Trust (CST). "The task force will strengthen accountability and enhance efforts to combat antisemitic crime and violence against Jewish communities," the site read.
Reuters contributed to this report.