Two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green, north London, on Wednesday in an attack police called a terrorist incident, and authorities later arrested a 45-year-old British national on suspicion of attempted murder. The government responded by announcing an extra £25m to increase police patrols and strengthen security around Jewish communities.
The men were named locally as Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76. Their stabbing landed in a week that has already deepened fear among British Jews after a series of recent incidents, and it immediately forced the government to confront how far antisemitic violence has pushed into everyday life.
Jonathan Hall KC said attacks on Jewish people in the UK were “the biggest national security emergency” in almost a decade, adding that British Jews were “now thinking they cannot live a normal life” because of the string of incidents in recent months. Sir Ephraim Mirvis said Wednesday’s attack “proves that if you are visibly Jewish, you’re not safe and far more needs to be done,” while the Board of Deputies of British Jews said antisemitism must be “confronted, punished and deterred with the full force of the state.”
The new funding is meant for extra patrols and for further protections around synagogues, schools and community centres, as officials try to harden places that have become familiar targets. The government said the issue was being treated as an “absolute priority,” but Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood rejected Hall’s description of a national emergency, saying the phrase carries particular constitutional weight and, in her view, “I don't believe this is where we are today.”
The disagreement matters because it shows the split between those warning that Jewish communities are living with an immediate security crisis and ministers who want to keep the language more measured, even as they spend more money and widen protection. Chris Philp called it “shameful” that attacks on Jewish communities were happening “on such a frequent basis” in the UK and said, “I think from the government, words are no longer enough.” For British Jews, the question now is whether the new money will change the feeling on the street before the next attack tests the same promise again.