Prince Harry has described rising antisemitism in Britain as “deeply troubling,” asserting that while people are entitled to feel anger over events in the Middle East, there can be no justification for hostility towards individuals or faith communities. The Duke of Sussex, writing in the New Statesman, appeared to make a veiled criticism of the Israeli government while stressing that legitimate protest should never tip into hatred.
Harry's Warning on Antisemitism
“Across the country, we are seeing a deeply troubling rise in antisemitism,” Prince Harry wrote. “Jewish communities – families, children, ordinary people – are being made to feel unsafe in the very places they call home.” Recent data showed that the number of antisemitic hate crimes recorded in London in April was the highest in two years, prompting the Metropolitan Police to commit to deploying 100 extra officers to protect Jewish communities.
Among the offences were attempted arson attacks at Finchley Reform synagogue on 15 April and at the former premises of the charity Jewish Futures in Hendon three days later. A further attempted arson attack targeted a memorial wall in Golders Green on 28 April. Golders Green was also the scene of a double stabbing on 29 April that is subject to a terrorism investigation.
Legitimate Protest vs. Hatred
Some politicians and Jewish community leaders have argued that antisemitism has been inflamed by extremist rhetoric at some pro-Palestinian protests, calling for the marches to be banned. In his article, Prince Harry acknowledged the deep alarm over the scale of loss in the Middle East, referencing images from Gaza, Lebanon, and the wider region that have shaken people to their core. He stated that the instinct to speak out, march, demand accountability, and call for an end to suffering is both human and necessary.
However, he added, “these two realities are being dangerously conflated. We have seen how legitimate protest against state actions in the Middle East does exist alongside hostility toward Jewish communities at home – just as we have also seen how criticism of those actions can be too easily dismissed or mischaracterised.” The prince also condemned rising Islamophobia, writing that when anger leads to attacks on communities – whether Jewish, Muslim, or any other – it ceases to be a call for justice and becomes something far more corrosive.
Harry's Acknowledgment of Past Mistakes
The prince, who now lives in California, has been criticized in the past for wearing a Nazi uniform to a costume party 20 years ago. In 2009, he was also criticized for describing a Pakistani member of his platoon while serving in the army as “our little Paki friend.” In his article, he acknowledged these mistakes, writing: “I am acutely aware of my own past mistakes – thoughtless actions for which I have apologised, taken responsibility and learned from. That experience informs my conviction that clarity matters now more than ever.”
Archbishop of Canterbury's Warning
Harry’s intervention comes as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, used a visit to the Sternberg Centre for Judaism to warn of a “horrifying increase in antisemitic violence over the past few weeks, months and years” in Britain. She said it was “completely unacceptable” that Jewish communities lived in fear and with heavy security. Speaking at the centre, Mullally stated it was “impossible to ignore the distressing truth about Jewish life in Britain today.”
She added: “This is not a problem for the Jewish community to solve. It’s on all of us – every single member of our society – to call out antisemitism whenever we see it, and to oppose it without hesitation or qualification.” The Church of England, Mullally said, knows acts of solidarity must also mean action, as well as words. “We are committed to serve the whole nation by working together to tackle hatred in all its forms, knowing that violence against one group wounds us all.”
