U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivered a Hanukkah message amid the rise in anti-Semitism, just weeks after his party won an election against the Labour Party and its leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has been accused of anti-Semitism.
“I know that recent years have not been easy ones for British Jews,” said Johnson in a video almost two minutes long. “In the media, on the streets and particularly online, anti-Semites have, in alarming numbers, been emboldened to crawl out from under their rocks and begin, once again, to spread their brand of noxious hatred far and wide.”
“Today, as Britain’s Jews seek to drive back the darkness of resurgent anti-Semitism, you have every decent person in this country fighting by your side,” he added. “Because Britain would not be Britain without its Jewish community. And we will stand with you and celebrate with you—at Hanukkah, and all year round.”
In the Dec. 12 election, Johnson’s Conservative Party won 365 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons—their biggest victory since 1987. The Labour Party won 203 seats.
Hanukkah began on Sunday evening, Dec. 22 and concludes on Monday, Dec. 30.
