Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel visited the site of the deadly Yom Kippur attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester on Sunday as the investigation into the British-Syrian suspect continues.
The Israeli diplomat laid a wreath in memory of Adrian Dalby, 53, and Melvyn Kravitz, 66, the Jewish worshippers who were murdered in the terrorist attack at the synagogue in the Crumpsall area on Oct. 2. Four others were wounded in the attack.
“My message is clear: we must never stay silent in the face of antisemitism. The free world must act—stop the incitement, enforce the law, and stand with the Jewish community with courage and determination,” Haskel wrote in an X post Monday along with a video message from outside of the synagogue.
I visited Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester - the synagogue where the deadly Yom Kippur terror attack took place.
— Sharren Haskel השכל שרן (@SharrenHaskel) October 6, 2025
I laid a wreath in memory of Adrian Dalby and Melvyn Kravitz, who were murdered simply for being Jewish.
My message is clear: we must never stay silent… pic.twitter.com/QNABCPdspt
She delivered the keynote speech at the Conservative Friends of Israel event held as part of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, and met with the party’s chair and opposition leader Kemi Badenoch.
Haskel also addressed a rally in the city marking two years since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel, which triggered the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
“Here as a Jew I am not safe in your streets,” Haskel told the crowd. “I’m threatened with death, for nothing more than my very existence. I stand before you in a bulletproof vest, a Kevlar vest, here on this stage. I am not allowed to be here without it.”
Yesterday I stood on stage in Manchester wearing a Kevlar vest - not as a symbol of fear, but as a symbol of strength and resolve.
— Sharren Haskel השכל שרן (@SharrenHaskel) October 6, 2025
Because wherever Jews are threatened - we stand united.
Whether in Israel, in Europe, or in any Jewish community around the world - our pain is one,… pic.twitter.com/FKzcADBgmb
Meanwhile, more information is being reported on the suspect in the attack, 35-year-old Jihad al-Shamie, including his ex-wife alleging mental and sexual abuse in an interview with the Manchester Evening News. The attacker’s neighbors reported concerns about his radicalized Islamic behavior to the police, The Guardian reported on Monday.
The suspect, who was free on bail for an alleged rape, was shot and killed by law enforcement at the scene.
Dr. Faraj al-Shamie, the father of the suspect, praised Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorists as “God’s men on earth” in social media posts shortly after the mass attack on Israel.
However, police said that Jihad al-Shamei did not appear to be known to counter-terrorism officials before the synagogue attack.
Al-Shamie allegedly rammed his car into the synagogue on Yom Kippur before trying to stab additional worshippers.
