YOUNG ISRAELI-BRIT'S

PEACE DEAL CONCERN

- By CHRIS HUGHES in Tel Aviv Pictures by ANDY STENNING

AS the world prays for an end to the Gaza war, a teenager raised in Manchester and now living in Israel said yesterday he fears real peace could be a long way off.

Michael Marshall, 18, was shocked by the synagogue attack in the English city - but said it did not surprise him with antisemitism in the UK and elsewhere on the rise.

The former student is pre-military, meaning he has left school and could soon join his Israeli friends, who are all signed up to join the Israel Defence Forces.

As he sat with them in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square yesterday, he said: "Of course I hope for peace in Gaza. Nobody wants other human beings to suffer and I have respect and feelings for the innocent Gazan non-terrorists.

"If there is a ceasefire or end to the war I do believe that peace will take a long time and the attacks and aftermath of October 7 had an effect globally.

"I can tell you that back in the UK I was used to reading about or seeing terror attacks over here in Israel on the television but not in the UK. The Manchester attack was shocking.

"But at the same time actually what happened in the Manchester synagogue was also not really a surprise. Even before it happened there was a lot of anger in the Jewish community because it has not felt safe for some time. It is and was anger towards the rise of antisemitism and I felt it even before the October 7 attack by Hamas and the war in Gaza that followed."

Michael said he experienced antisemitism at his Manchester school, which we have agreed not to name.

He said: "It may not have been physical but it was antisemitism. People blame what is happening out here on British Jews who have nothing to do with what is happening here or what Prime Minister Netanyahu decides.

"It is a small community. I was in Israel when the Manchester attack happened and a friend of mine was in the synagogue shul when it came under attack.