Thursday 23 Av – Antisemitic assaults in Britain surged by 82% in first six months of 2026 – Trump says ‘all-day negotiation’ was held with Iran, deal could happen ‘tomorrow or next day’ & more…

Antisemitic incidents in the United Kingdom rose 21 percent in the first six months of 2026 compared to the same period last year, reaching the second-highest total on record for the first half of a year, according to a new report by the Community Security Trust.

The organization recorded 1,926 anti-Jewish hate incidents between January and June, up from 1,598 during the first half of 2025. The total comes out to an average of 321 monthly incidents, nearly double the figure from before October 7, 2023.

Physical attacks rose sharply, with 135 recorded antisemitic assaults, an 82% increase year-over-year. Incidents in schools jumped 59% to 178, while synagogue-related incidents surged by 31%, CST notes.

The most serious incidents included the terror stabbing of two visibly Jewish men in Golders Green on April 29, which fueled 71 further anti-Jewish incidents over the next three days, CST says. The period also saw a series of arson attacks targeting London synagogues and Jewish-linked properties, including the burning of Hatzola ambulances and strikes on multiple synagogues that were linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and claimed by an organization later proscribed by the UK government.

“Thousands of Jewish families living in fear in their own country, and it is completely unacceptable,” says Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp. “Antisemitism has no place in Britain and real action needs to be taken to stamp it out. This is a national emergency.”

US President Donald Trump says there was an “all-day negotiation” on Tuesday with Iran, characterizing the talks positively while also threatening to hit Iran “really hard” if a deal is not reached.

“We’re having very good discussions,” he says, insisting that Iran is keen to find a way to bring an end to the conflict. “The only thing that matters is action. And they want to make a deal. We’ll see what happens.”

“I have plenty of time,” he adds.

Trump says he believes a deal could happen “tomorrow or the next day.”

The Axios news site, citing unnamed regional officials and a US official, said the deal on the table would be a 60-day arrangement for safe passage in the strait between Iran and Oman.

That deal — which would not involve the payment of tolls — could then be extended, the report said.

Israel’s High Court has temporarily frozen hundreds of millions of shekels in government funding earmarked for yeshiva education and welfare programs serving the chareidi community, just one day after the Knesset Finance Committee approved the allocations.

The temporary injunction halts funding for essential services, including student transportation, after-school programs, teacher training, and initiatives supporting at-risk youth. Many educational institutions had already begun preparations for the upcoming school year and warn that the delay could disrupt daily operations and leave thousands of families without vital services.

The petition was filed by the Hiddush organization together with MK Naama Lazimi, who argued that procedural flaws occurred during the Finance Committee’s approval process. Although the High Court had previously allowed the committee meeting to proceed, it later ordered most of the approved transfers to be suspended until further legal review.

Representatives of the chareidi community strongly criticized the ruling, arguing that funding intended for children and education repeatedly becomes the subject of legal challenges while comparable allocations elsewhere face less scrutiny. They stressed that transportation, educational support, and welfare services are basic public rights rather than political favors.

Finance Committee Chairman MK Chanokh Milwidsky sharply attacked the decision, while Coalition Chairman MK Ofir Katz accused the court of applying inconsistent standards to budget approvals.

The funding will remain frozen pending further court proceedings, as community leaders continue pressing for the immediate release of the allocations to ensure schools and educational programs can operate without interruption.

The Israeli military resumed strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, alleging that it was doing so in response to Hezbollah’s “blatant violation” of a tenuous ceasefire, as talks on expanding the truce between the two countries were said to hit a bump in the road in Rome.

One person was reported killed in the strike, and 12 others were injured.

The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately provide details on the terror group’s alleged violation of the truce, only saying that it launched “precise strikes” in southern Lebanon in response.

A short while before launching the strikes — the first since August 1 — the IDF issued the first evacuation warning for an area of southern Lebanon in weeks, and called for residents of Mansouri to evacuate at least one kilometer north of the village.

“In light of the Hezbollah terror organization’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is compelled to operate against it with force,” said Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokeswoman.

“Anyone located near Hezbollah operatives, facilities, or weapons is putting their life at risk!” she added.

The Lebanese health ministry said one person was killed and 12 others were wounded in the strike, which it said targeted Tebnine, located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Mansouri.

The state-run National News Agency said that the strike hit a prayer room in the town’s cemetery.

A new school for youth living in illegal farming outposts in the West Bank is inaugurated in the settlement of Beit El, in the presence of Education Minister Yoav Kisch and other dignitaries.

Kisch says that the school, one of four such schools established by the government, will provide an “educational solution” for youths living in the illegal farming outposts and put them on the path of “action and contribution to the State of Israel.”

The schools have been established under the framework of a cabinet resolution designed to support minors living in the outposts, many of whom are school dropouts and at-risk youth.

Although the programs and funding for such youth under the cabinet resolution are supposed to help integrate them back into educational frameworks, provide them with social welfare, reduce their involvement in violence, and prepare them for military service, the support has been strongly criticized since the youths remain at the illegal farming outposts, which are frequently the sources of violence against local Palestinians.

It is unclear who, if anyone, will guarantee that such youths, who live in the outposts without their parents, will actually go to school, and how they will travel there given that they cannot drive.

“For years, it was mostly the problems [with hilltop youth] that were discussed, today we are presenting the solution,” said Beit El Mayor Shai Alon, who was also in attendance at the inauguration yesterday. “The establishment of the school is great news for the youths and their families, so instead of just making do with enforcement the state is investing in education, direction, and building a future for them.”

Illegal farming outposts are established by hardline settler activists, very often with the cooperation of local municipal councils and the IDF, and are designed to assert control over large tracts of land in the West Bank. They are not approved by the cabinet, however, meaning they are technically illegal.

For the UK Jewish Orthodox Community
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