Beginning in March 2026, the Jewish community in London, United Kingdom, became the target of a wave of antisemitic attacks, primarily involving arson and vandalism directed at synagogues, community charities, and schools. The campaign's most prominent incidents include the Hatzola ambulance arson and the Golders Green stabbings. In addition to Jewish targets, some Israeli state and Iranian refugee sites were targeted in related incidents.[1][2]
Responsibility for many of the incidents was claimed online by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), identified by investigators as a front group for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to authorities, the IRGC outsourced the operations to local criminals to maintain plausible deniability. The attacks prompted a major counter-terrorism investigation, leading to dozens of arrests and increased security across northwest London.
The Iranian state has a longstanding record of sponsoring terrorism and hybrid warfare in the United Kingdom.[3][4] Between 2022 and 2024, MI5 disrupted 20 Iran-linked plots.[5] In May 2025, Counter Terrorism Policing arrested eight men across England on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, which was suspected to target synagogues and other Jewish community sites, according to TheDaily Telegraph.[5] In March 2026, two men–dual Iranian‑British national Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, and Iranian national Alireza Farasati, 22–were charged under section three of the National Security Act 2023 for engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service, following surveillance of Jewish individuals and locations.[6]
Threats of killing Jewish schoolchildren in North London: On 13 February 2026, Mohamed Ullah from Hackney, east London, made comments to activist Avani Hari threatening to kill and "decapitate" Jewish schoolchildren. Ullah was arrested on the same day and remained in police custody. His defence barrister started that Ullah "at the time of the offending was about to be discharged as a patient from a mental institution."[9][10][11] In June 2026, Ullah pleaded guilty to making threats to kill, racially aggravated harassment, assault and damaging a water dispenser at Homerton Hospital.[9][10][11]
Four Hatzola ambulances were destroyed by arson at Machzike Hadath synagogue (pictured in 2011).
Hatzola arson attack: On 23 March, four ambulances belonging to Hatzola–a community-funded volunteer ambulance service–were destroyed by arson in the car park of Machzike Hadath synagogue, Golders Green. CCTV footage showed three hooded individuals pouring accelerant on the vehicles before fleeing, leading to explosions of onboard oxygen cylinders.[12][13] The blasts damaged stained‑glass windows, caused smoke and roof damage to the synagogue, and shattered windows in a nearby block of flats.[14]
Finchley synagogue firebombing: On 15 April, a brick and two petrol-filled bottles were thrown at Finchley Reform Synagogue. Neither bottle ignited, no damage occurred, and no injuries were reported.[15]
Persian media organisation arson attempt: On 15 April, an ignited container was thrown towards the office of Iran International, a Persian language media organisation in Park Royal, north-west London, with three men subsequently arrested and HAYI claiming responsibility.[16][17][18][19]
Israeli embassy threat: On 17 April, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI) claimed it was planning an attack on the Embassy of Israel using "dangerous substances". No attack took place, and no injuries or damage were reported.[20] Discarded items, including two jars containing a powdered substance, were found in Kensington Gardens near the embassy. The items were later confirmed to contain no harmful substances.[21]
Hendon charity arson attack: Late on 17 April, a man attempted to ignite a bag containing three bottles of fluid at the doorway of a building in Hendon formerly occupied by the charity Jewish Futures. The bottles failed to ignite fully, causing only minor scorch marks. No injuries were reported.[22][23][24]
Kenton synagogue arson attack: On 19 April, a bottle containing an accelerant was thrown through a window of KentonUnited Synagogue, damaging the synagogue's medical room.[25]
Watford shop attack: On 19 April, a Jewish-owned shop in Watford was set on fire. Hertfordshire Police described the incident as a "religiously aggravated" and stated that, at that point in time, it was believed to be an isolated incident.[26][27][28]
Foiled arson attack: On 19 and 20 April, seven people were arrested for planning an arson attack on a Jewish community site. The Metropolitan Police said that the specific target or venue within the Jewish community was unknown.[29]
Memorial wall arson attack: On 28 April, a suspected arson attack occurred at a memorial wall in Golders Green. The wall is situated outside a Jewish synagogue and serves as a tribute to protesters killed by the Iranian government during an anti-government crackdown and victims of the Nova music festival attack in Israel. The Metropolitan Police said they were keeping an open mind about the motive behind the attack, with a source telling ITV News that it was not currently being considered as antisemitic.[30][1][31]
Golders Green stabbings: On 29 April, two Jewish men, aged 34 and 76, were stabbed in Golders Green. They were treated at the scene by Hatzola and taken to hospital. Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the attack as "utterly appalling".[32] The 45‑year‑old assailant was detained by Shomrim volunteers before being tasered and arrested by police.[33] HAYI claimed responsibility to the attack.[34]
The East London Central Synagogue building was the target of an arson attack.Former East London Central Synagogue arson attack: The building of the former East London Central Synagogue in Tower Hamlets sustained an arson attack by two men on the early morning of 5 May. The synagogue had closed in 2020 and was in the process of being purchased by a mosque. It had been targeted with graffiti saying "free Palestine" and "kill the zionists[sic]" the previous year. HAYI noted the attack on its Telegram channel but did not claim responsibility for it.[35][36]
TikTok harassment: Also in May, two men filmed themselves verbally abusing a Jewish resident of the Stamford Hill area of Hackney. The men travelled to a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood to make antisemitic videos for content and upload them to social media. Police called the incidents "deliberate and targeted antisemitic attack, aggravated by the pair’s intention to post the incident on social media to spread hatred". Two of the men, Adam Bedoui, 20, and Abdelkader Amir Bousloub, 21, both from Hillingdon, pleaded guilty to religiously aggravated public order offences.[37][38][39]
Attempted Golders Green arson attack: On 2 June, a suspected arson occurred in the communal stairwell of an apartment building on Bridge Lane, Golders Green, where an empty pram was set alight. Residents confronted the suspect, who fled the scene, and extinguished the blaze before emergency services arrived. The Jewish community patrol group Shomrim stated that witnesses saw the suspect deliberately start the fire and noted that the majority of the building's residents are Jewish families.[40][41]
Responsibility for most of the attacks was claimed online by HAYI, a newly formed organization believed to be a front group for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which outsources attacks to local criminals and uses the group's branding to create plausible deniability.[7][42] National Counter Terrorism Policing led the investigation into attacks on Jewish and Iranian diaspora targets, including exploring the veracity of HAYI's claims and whether criminal proxies are being used to commit any of the crimes, although they were not treated as terror incidents.[43][44][45]
By 27 April, authorities had arrested 26 individuals in the UK for planning and carrying out the attacks.[46] In connection with the Hatzola attack, four people—British nationals Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, and Judex Atshatshi, 18, and an unnamed dual British-Pakistani national, 17—were charged with arson with intent to damage property and being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.[47] On the same day as the Finchley Reform Synagogue firebombing, two people—a 47-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man—were arrested in connection with the attack. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "I'm grateful to the Met Police for their swift response to the appalling attempted arson attack at Finchley Reform Synagogue overnight. The incident is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, and there is an increased police presence in place in the local area."[15] Following the embassy attack, a 39-year-old man was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000.[43] In the days following the Hendon charity attack, a man was arrested in connection to the incident.[29] The night after the Kenton synagogue attack, a 17-year-old boy and 19-year-old man were arrested in connection with the incident.[25] Nine additional people were arrested between 19 and 22 April for planning to commit arson attacks targeting the Jewish community in London.[48] The 26th arrest was a 37-year-old man from Devon, arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts against the Jewish community in London.[46]
For the Golders Green knife attack, a 45-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, with specialist officers from Counter Terrorism Policing leading the investigation,[32] with all possible motives being considered and it being declared a terrorist incident.[49]
On 15 May, the US justice department charged Iraq national Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi for his involvement in this and other incidents tied to his alleged role as an operative for the Iran-backed Iraqi paramilitary group Kata'ib Hezbollah and Iran’s IRGC.[50]
In June, two men, Dominic Charles-Turner and Moses Edwards, were charged with the arson attack on the former East London Central Synagogue building.[51][full citation needed] The same month a dual British and Iranian national from Ilford was charged with the arson attack on the memorial wall.[44][45]
In response to the attacks, police resources were significantly stepped up in northwest London in a large, multi-pronged campaign called Operation Compertum.[52] Several hundreds of additional uniformed and plain-clothed officers were placed in areas with large Jewish populations, including specialist teams employing firearms, the mounted branch, and drones.[8][53] Extra stop and search powers were introduced in Barnet.[53]Armed response vehicles and Counter Terrorism Policing resources were deployed to the area to support the increased local policing plan.[53] Officers from Project Servator were also deployed, who are trained in behavioural detection to spot that someone is acting suspiciously such as gathering information or preparing for an attack.[52]
Jonathan Hall KC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, described London as being "under attack" by Iran. He said that the individuals conducting the attacks are likely "carrying out Iran's dirty work", with Iran intending to "sow fear, division and tie up resources". Hall recommended the Government to pass legislation to proscribe the IRGC.[54] After the Golders Green attack, the UK threat level was raised from substantial to severe, which the UK government attributed to increasing Islamist and right-wing threats to the public.[55] They also declared antisemitism as an emergency.[56]
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer said that the government will do "everything in our power to keep British Jews safe", including "a fundamental reset of how we counter extremism" and additional funding to deploy specialist officers. Starmer added "We won't relent in our fight against antisemitism and terror. Any perpetrators will feel the full force of the law."[57][58] The Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch described the attacks as an "epidemic of violence against Jewish people", with the Jewish community being "under constant attack". Badenoch concluded: "It is now a national emergency and needs to be treated as such by the government and public authorities."[59]
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described the incidents as a "national disgrace", criticising the government for not addressing the "root causes", including incitement, religious indoctrination, media bias, and tolerance of antisemitic and anti-Zionist discrimination.[60] The party's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf linked the attacks to illegal migrant crossings on the English Channel, stating that it is clear that some of the military-aged Iranian men crossing the Channel on small boats are "almost certainly IRGC operatives".[61]
The leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, expressed concern over the arson attacks, but added: "Now, there's a conversation to be had about whether it's a perception of unsafety or whether it's actual unsafety, but neither are acceptable."[62] Polanski's comments received significant backlash from the some within the Jewish community.[63] Starmer described it as "disgraceful" to suggest fears of attacks on Jews were merely "a perception of reality",[63] while the Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey said he was "shocked" by Polanski's "outrageous" comment, adding: "How dare he say it's perception. It's a reality."[64] Polanski refused to apologise for his comment.[63]
Following the Hatzola ambulance arson attack, an online fundraiser raised more than £3.2 million for the charity.[8]Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said that "a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum", stressing that we cannot wait for fatalities "before we understand just how dangerous this moment is for all of our society."[65]Archbishop of Canterbury Dame Sarah Mullally sent the Jewish community her "wholehearted support, solidarity and prayers", adding: "An attack on Jewish people is an attack on us all—we must stand together against the virulence of antisemitism that brings only violence, fear and hatred."[66]
Following the Finchley synagogue attack, over 20 community groups came together to show support for the synagogue.[67] This included the local Somali Bravanese community, many of whom arrived in the area as refugees, and whose own centre was destroyed in an arson attack in 2013, after which the synagogue offered their space for the community to use for prayers during Ramadan for four years.[68]
