A 45-year-old man was arrested after being tasered as he tried to stab police officers
Two people have been stabbed in a street in Golders Green, north of London, by a man who targeted members of the Jewish community from a synagogue, in what appears to be a deliberate act of antisemitic violence.
They suffered serious injuries but are in stable condition. They have been treated by Hatzola.
According to Shomrim, the Jewish community’s safety group, a man with a knife was running along Golders Green Road trying to stab Jewish people. A medical helicopter has arrived on the scene. “It was a stabbing outside the synagogue on Highfield Avenue,” one witness said.” He added that the attacker “ran down the road” where he stabbed someone else “seriously.”
CCTV footage obtained by the Jewish Chronicle shows a man launching two frenzied attacks on bystanders on Golders Green Road.
Scotland Yard said in a statement that counter terror police would be leading the investigation. A spokesman said officers responded following reports of people being stabbed in Highfield Avenue, Barnet.
“The suspect also attempted to stab police officers, and was Tasered before being arrested. No officers were injured.
“Two men – one in his 70s and one in his 30s – were treated at the scene for stab wounds. They have been taken to hospital and both are in a stable condition.
“A 45-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He was taken into custody, where he remains. We are working to establish his nationality and background,” the spokesman added.
A spokesperson for Community Security Trust (CST), the charity that protects British Jews from terrorism and antisemitism, declared : “We would like to thank Shomrim, Hatzola and the Met Police for their swift response. We are working closely with the police and urge anyone with information to contact the police and CST immediately.”
Upon receiving news of the attack in the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told MPs the incident was “deeply concerning”. “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 offences, the like of which we’ve seen too much recently,” he said.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan wrote: “There has been an appalling attack on two Jewish Londoners in Golders Green. The police have made an arrest and I’d like to thank all the emergency services and heroic volunteers from Hatzola and Shomrim for their swift response to this horrific incident.
It’s Hunting Season on Jews”
“This is not random violence. This is open season on Jews,” said Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) CEO, Sacha Roytman Dratwa. “When a man hunts for Jews in the streets of London, knife in hand, we are witnessing the normalization of antisemitic terror in the UK. Decision-makers in the UK have to be asked, how much blood must be shed before real action to stop this wave of terror is taken?”
“The warning signs have been unmistakable, attacks on synagogues, Jewish institutions, and ambulance services, and now that hatred has spilled into physical violence once again,” Roytman Dratwa said. “This is how it starts, and history has shown us how it can escalate even further if left unchecked.”
“If governments do not respond forcefully at every level, through policing, legislation, education, and the dismantling of incitement networks, this ‘hunting season’ against Jews will continue,” he added.
CAM called on the British government to immediately enhance security protections for Jewish communities, ensure swift prosecution of perpetrators, and confront the ideological drivers fueling antisemitic violence.
“This is a defining moment,” Roytman Dratwa concluded. “The question is whether those in power will act now, or wait until the next attack makes the cost of inaction further undeniable.”