The Bishop of Manchester has asked the Government to clamp down on antisemitism against Jewish students in the wake of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza.

Speaking in the House of Lords, the Rt Rev David Walker spoke of the concern raised by the Union of Jewish Students (UJS). 

James Harris, UJS President, has hit out at the "disgusting, offensive and racist vitriol, particularly on social media, targeting Jewish students and Jewish Societies". 

Bishop Walker called for assurances from the Government that action would be taken to protect Jewish students who are "now being targeted with really quite disgusting antisemitic abuse".

Responding on behalf of the Government, Lord Greenhalgh said it was "are aware of this tension".

"The Community Security Trust has reported a massive spike in anti-Semitic incidents, but equally, Tell MAMA has seen a similar increase in anti-Muslim incidents of 420% in the past week," he said. 

"We are funding the Union of Jewish Students to do precisely that: to tackle these issues. We want to see the full implementation, not just the adoption, of the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of anti-Semitism."

The IHRA definition of anti-Semitism states: "Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities."

Education secretary Gavin Williamson last year threatened to cut off funding for universities that fail to implement the IHRA definition of antisemitism. 

Williamson said in a letter to vice-chancellors last autumn: "The repugnant belief that antisemitism is somehow a less serious or more acceptable form of racism has taken insidious hold in some parts of British society, and I am quite clear that universities must play their part in rooting out this attitude and demonstrating that antisemitism is abhorrent."