Manchester Synagogue Attack Survivor Considers Aliyah Amid Rising UK Antisemitism

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND (VINnews) — Yoni Finlay, the British Jew seriously wounded in the October 2 Yom Kippur terror attack at a Manchester synagogue, says he is now considering making aliyah with his four children due to surging antisemitism in the United Kingdom.

Finlay, who was shot during the rampage carried out by Jihad Al-Shamie outside the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue, told The Sunday Times of London that he and his ex-wife have begun discussing a possible move to Israel.

“It would be really upsetting to leave Manchester. This is my hometown. I am Mancunian,” Finlay said. “But I can’t bring my kids up in this environment.”

He said his children have already faced antisemitic incidents and described the current climate as filled with “so much anger and so much hate.”

“It’s become hard to recognize the UK anymore, with the hate marches and the chanting,” he added, referring to large-scale anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have taken place across Britain since October 7, 2023.

“People being angry at Israel shouldn’t turn that into hatred of Jews,” Finlay stressed. “I have said this again and again: Words have impact, and actions have consequences. And this sort of terrorist attack is the consequence.”

Al-Shamie, 28, rammed his car into pedestrians outside the synagogue on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, then emerged with a knife and attempted to force his way into the building before being fatally shot by armed police. Finlay was among those seriously injured in the attack.

Recalling the moment he came face-to-face with the attacker, Finlay said: “I have never been that close to evil. You could feel it radiating off him.”

“I believe there is light and there is darkness, and there was a huge amount of darkness that day,” he told The Sunday Times.

Finlay’s remarks come as Jewish communities across the UK report record levels of antisemitic incidents in the wake of the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel.