British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that the United Kingdom will introduce new antisemitism laws to strengthen national protection against what he described as imminent threats.
On Thursday he vowed to boost security to protect the Jewish community following the latest attack against it, while also urging Britons to unite against antisemitism. He said Jewish people were living in fear and that ‘Iran wanted to harm British Jews’
Britain also raised its national terrorism threat level to “severe” from “substantial”, a day after an stabbing attack in north London.
Court House News Service reports: Facing accusations from angry British Jews that his government has repeatedly failed to protect them, Starmer pledged immediate increased funding for synagogues and other sites but insisted U.K. society must “come together” to “fight antisemitism.”
The British leader also accused Iran of wanting “to harm British Jews” in the wake of Wednesday’s latest attack targeting the community in which two Jewish men were stabbed in north London.
His comments follow repeated warnings from officials that hostile states are intent on using proxies to conduct attacks in the U.K., after a string of arson attacks targeting Jewish sites in the capital.
“This is about society every bit as much as it is about security,” Starmer said in a televised Downing Street address, hours after visiting the scene of the knifings, where he faced boos and heckling from locals.
“This government will do everything in our power to stamp this hatred out,” he added. “We will strengthen our security and protect our Jewish community. But I also call on everyone decent in this country to open their eyes to Jewish pain, Jewish suffering and Jewish fear.”
Security fears
The two men were knifed in broad daylight in Golders Green, an area of north London with a large Jewish population.
The victims, aged 76 and 34, were in a stable condition in hospital.
A 45-year-old man, a British national who was born in Somalia and came to the U.K. as a child, remains in custody following the stabbings. U.K. media has named the suspect as Essa Suleiman.
It comes nearly seven months after a deadly attack in which two people died at a synagogue in Manchester, and the recent string of arson attacks.