By Sam Tobin and Sarah Young
LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) – Two Jewish men were stabbed in north London on Wednesday by an attacker who ran down a street targeting Jews in what police said was being treated as a terrorist incident.
Police said the two victims, one in his 70s and one in his 30s, were both in a stable condition in hospital, and officers, some of whom were also attacked, had arrested a 45-year-old man after stopping him by using a Taser stun gun.
The latest in a spate of UK antisemitic attacks has drawn demands for urgent action from Jewish community leaders in London and from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli president amid concerns about the safety of Britain’s 290,000 Jews.
The suspect, who is being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder, had a history of serious violence and mental health issues, London’s police chief Mark Rowley said in a statement at the scene.
More resources have been promised across the country to protect communities, but in a sign of the anger and fear, Rowley was heckled by a crowd at the scene who called for him to resign, shouting “you’ve failed”.
ISRAEL’S PRESIDENT CALLS FOR ACTION
Unverified footage of Wednesday’s incident posted on social media appeared to show a man in a traditional Jewish skullcap being attacked by an assailant with a knife as he stood at a bus stop.
The suspect had tried to stab police officers, police said, although none were injured. The social media footage later showed officers repeatedly kicking the suspect as they attempted to take the knife away from him.
The stabbings follow a series of arson attacks on Jewish targets in recent weeks in the capital, while last October two people and an attacker were killed after a man drove at a synagogue in the northern English city of Manchester.
Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the British government needed more than just words to face down such “hatred”, while Israeli President Isaac Herzog said urgent action was needed after it became “dangerous to openly walk the streets as a Jew” in London.
Starmer, whose government has previously promised extra funding to boost security for Jewish communities, said: “The antisemitic attack in Golders Green is utterly appalling”.
A spokesperson for King Charles said the monarch was “being kept fully informed and is naturally deeply concerned, in particular about the impact for the Jewish community”.
‘UNDERSTANDABLE WHY JEWISH LONDONERS FEEL AFRAID’
Rowley said he would discuss with the government what more help could be made available.
“It is completely understandable why Jewish Londoners feel afraid. Jewish communities are understandably angry. There’s been too many attacks,” he said.
Detectives are examining whether the arson incidents over the last month have possible Iranian links, amid warnings from security officials that Iran has sought to use criminal proxies to carry out hostile activity in the UK.
On Tuesday, Britain summoned the Iranian ambassador over what it called the Iranian embassy’s “unacceptable and inflammatory” comments on social media.
The pro-Iranian group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya (HAYI), which has said it was behind some of the London arson attacks and other similar ones across Europe, claimed responsibility on social media for Wednesday’s stabbings.
Police have previously said they were assessing such online claims but have not confirmed their authenticity.
“We know that some individuals are being encouraged, persuaded or paid to commit acts of violence on behalf of foreign organisations and hostile states,” Rowley said.
SPATE OF ANTISEMITIC ATTACKS
Over the last month, officers have arrested more than two dozen people as part of investigations into attacks on Jewish-linked premises, including the torching of Jewish ambulances, in an area close to where Wednesday’s stabbings took place, and attempted arson attacks on synagogues.
Golders Green in north London is home to a large Jewish population and has been the location of several of the attacks, along with sites near to the Israeli embassy in west London.
Antisemitic attacks have risen around the world since the October 2023 Hamas assault on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, including a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach that killed 15 people in December last year.
Britain has seen a similar rise and since the Manchester attack in England, Jewish communities have stepped up their private security.
(Reporting by Sarah Young, Sam Tabahriti and Michael Holden; Additional reporting by Muvija M; Editing by William James, Kate Holton and Alison Williams)
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