Police in the United Kingdom are treating the street stabbing of two Jewish men in the north London suburb of Golders Green on Wednesday as a “terrorist incident” and are investigating “whether this attack was deliberately targeting the Jewish community.”
The two men were wounded on the street and later reported to be in stable condition in hospital.
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of counter-terrorism policing, said “highly specialized teams of officers” are working to determine exactly what happened, including collaborating with UK security services “to ensure we have a full intelligence picture.” Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley described it as “another horrendous act of violence directed against our Jewish communities.”
Asked about the attack during Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident “deeply concerning” and said he had been informed shortly before the session. “There is now a police investigation, and I think we all need to do everything we can to support that investigation and be absolutely clear in our determination to deal with any of these offenses, the like of which we’ve seen too much recently.” King Charles III, speaking on his state visit to the United States, also said he was “deeply concerned.”
Golders Green, a north-west London area with a large Jewish population, has seen several suspected antisemitic crimes in recent weeks amid the wider conflict in the Middle East. Incidents nearby have included an arson attempt at a synagogue and an arson attack targeting ambulances; no injuries were reported in those cases. Several people, ranging from teenagers to those in their 40s, have been arrested and charged.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said “London’s Jewish community have been the target of a series of shocking antisemitic attacks” and insisted “there must be absolutely no place for antisemitism in society.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry urged the British government to act swiftly, saying antisemitism was “festering” across the UK. “After attacks on synagogues, Jewish institutions, community ambulances and now Jews targeted in Golders Green, the UK government can no longer claim this is under control,” it wrote on social media. “Enough words. The UK must act decisively and urgently.”
Britain’s Jewish community numbers about 300,000 and is a small share of the UK population. Golders Green is one of its centers, home to kosher restaurants, multiple Jewish schools and several dozen synagogues, along with sizable Asian and Middle Eastern communities.
Edited by: Alex Berry