UK pledges major security overhaul to protect Jewish communities amid surge in antisemitic attacks
The UK government announced £58 million in security funding this year as it investigates possible Iranian links to a wave of violence targeting Jewish sites across Europe
The United Kingdom is deploying what it describes as a "complete step change" in protecting its Jewish communities, the British ambassador to Israel told Israeli journalists Thursday, per i24NEWS correspondent Guy Azriel. As part of this change, the UK will be investing an additional $34 million to strengthen protective security and policing, bringing the total investment of this kind to $78 million so far this year.
The funds are being used to increase police patrols, enhance security at synagogues, schools, and community centers, and deploy plainclothes officers to prevent attacks before they occur.
In the past four weeks alone, the Metropolitan Police have arrested around 50 people for antisemitic hate crimes, with eight individuals charged. Additionally, 28 arrests have been made linked to arsons investigated alongside Counter Terrorism Policing. In the past month, more than 80 people have been arrested for antisemitic offenses.
The statement comes amid a global rise in antisemitic incidents and a string of violent attacks on Jewish sites in Europe. These attacks have been claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, or IMCR. British and Dutch authorities are investigating whether Iran is behind some of the IMCR attacks.
The group has claimed responsibility for an explosion outside a synagogue in Rotterdam, attacks on synagogues in Liege and Amsterdam, and the arson of United Hatzalah ambulances in the UK in March. In France, police are probing a possible IMCR link to an explosive device left outside the Paris headquarters of Bank of America. The British government said that if any attribution to a foreign country is confirmed, "the UK response will be swift and firm."
Prime Minister Keir Starmer chaired a forum on antisemitism at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, where he pledged the government would go beyond physical security measures. The UK has commissioned independent reviews into antisemitism in education and across the National Health Service and is investing $9.5 million in antisemitism training in schools, colleges, and universities. Universities will also now be required to publish the scale of antisemitism on their campuses and the steps taken to address it.
New legislation is being introduced to allow people working for state organizations to be prosecuted under the National Security Act, not only foreign intelligence operatives. The Crime and Policing Bill, which received Royal Assent last week, grants police expanded powers over protests, including outside places of worship. PM Starmer has said that chanting "Globalize the intifada" constitutes an abhorrent call for violence and should result in prosecution. An example of this in action could be seen at an al-Quds march in London back in March, which was banned. That was the first such ban since 2012.
The ambassador acknowledged the concerns of Jewish individuals and families in Israel with ties to the UK, who wonder if it is safe to travel to those European countries amid the heightened antisemitism. "Security is essential, but it is not enough," the ambassador said, adding that the government was also confronting "the forces that drive this hatred in the first place," including ideologies, misinformation, and conspiracy theories.