At Downing Street vigil, British Jews mourn those lost on 7 October

Hundreds of British Jews — and many non-Jews, too — gathered opposite Downing Street in Whitehall on Wednesday afternoon for a poignant tribute to those who perished in the Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

The event was a deliberate scaling-down of the first and second anniversary rallies, but no less emotional for that. In 2024 and 2025 there were still hostages held in Gaza. This year marks the first time surviving hostages are physically free — but the tone was one of remembrance and mourning, illustrated by the heartbreaking posters held in the crowd, each a picture of a life lost, leaving families torn apart.

The central message, expressed on other posters, was “We stand together: Never forget”. Politicians such as Labour’s Angela Rayner, Liberal Democrats’ Daisy Cooper, and Reform’s Richard Tice, were left in no doubt when listening to the Jewish Leadership Council chair, Keith Black, declaring: “British Jewry is a Zionist community. We stand with Israel and our love for the country has not diminished.” The contrast with the Green Party’s conference declaration that Zionism was racism was not lost on anyone in the crowd.

None of the politicians was scheduled to speak, but were witness to a tightly-packed and emotional roster of speakers, each echoing the words of Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies, telling the crowd that “7 October turned the world upside down.” He said that “Hamas’s evil has been exported around the world”, and referred to the litany of antisemitic events in Britain alone, ranging from the Yom Kippur attack on Manchester’s Heaton Park Synagogue in which two congregants died, to stabbings and arson attacks — “many directed by Iran”.

Rosenberg declared: “This is not just a Jewish problem, but a British problem. If a proudly British community, which has made, and continues to make, a massive contribution to our society, can be targeted in this way, what hope is there for this country?” To applause, he said: “This is not just a fight for Jews, but for Britain itself.”

He added: “By all means, seek to pursue peace in the Middle East — we all want that. But don’t blame Israel for a war that Hamas started”. Describing the Green Party’s action as “bigotry”, Rosenberg told the listening politicians that he was “grateful for the wall-to-wall condemnation” of the Greens’ resolution. (No-one from the Conservative Party was officially present as their conference was still taking place.)

Rosenberg referred to a brief demonstration on Wednesday morning by far-left activists outside the Board’s offices. Five people had been arrested, he reported, describing the demonstrators as “a bunch of the tedious numbskulls who have ruined our city centres for the last few years. Our response is clear. We will not be intimidated or threatened by a small extremist minority. We will continue to advocate for the Jewish people, in and around the world — to stand up for peace and security, for Israelis, Palestinians and the wider Middle East.”

There have been powerful ties between British Jews,  the hostages, and those murdered in Gaza. Sharone Lifschitz, who is based in the UK, suffered in both categories, as her parents were taken prisoner from their kibbutz, Nir Oz on 7 October 2023. Her mother, Yocheved, survived, but her father, Oded, 83, was murdered in Gaza after 19 days in captivity. His body was only returned to his family in February 2025.

Sharone, who became close to the British Jewish campaigners for the hostages, told the crowd that her mother was “a ray of sunlight”, and thanked supporters for their attendance on “such an impossible day for all of us.” Despite the agonies of the bereaved families, she said it was “a blessing that there are no hostages, alive or dead, still in Gaza.” 

Her parents were two of 74 hostages from Nir Oz alone, she said, while Oded was one of “46 hostages, taken alive, and killed or murdered in Gaza.” The family had only “glimpses” of what ultimately happened to him, she said, noting that “each glimpse shattered our hearts”. And in tribute to her father, who always wanted to mention children, she named in remembrance those children from Nir Oz who were murdered by Hamas, including, most notoriously, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, the baby brothers killed with their mother Shiri.

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis led the crowd in the recitation of kaddish, noting that “our refusal to let darkness have the final word is how we honour the dead”. After a minute’s silence, Rabbi Charlie Baginsky, co-chair of the Movement for Progressive Judaism, paid her tribute, with Biblical quotations, to those who had perished three years ago.

The painful but vital proceedings concluded with Raphi Leon, president of the Union of Jewish Students, reading out the names and ages of every Israeli with a British connection who had died after the Hamas assaults on the kibbutzim of the south, and the Nova Music Festival next to Kibbutz Be’eri. He began with the youngest — Yannai and Liel Hetzroni-Heller, fraternal twins aged 12 — and ended with the names of murder victims in their 60s. Each name was like the tolling of a bell, their ages etched into British Jewish memory like the cutting of glass, and the agony of lives unlived.

The Downing Street rally was held under the auspices of the Board of Deputies and the JLC, and chaired by the Board’s chief executive, Michael Wegier. A separate memorial event was held by UJIA at the Jewish Community Centre for London, JW3, later that evening.