British authorities on Wednesday arrested two men suspected of involvement in torching a Jewish group’s ambulances, according to London’s Metropolitan Police.
The two suspects, ages 45 and 47, were arrested at addresses in northwest and central London “on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. The case in question is Monday’s torching of four ambulances belonging to the Hatzola Northwest Jewish rescue service.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, which is leading the investigation of the ambulance torching, said: “This appears to be an important breakthrough in the investigation, but we’re also mindful that CCTV footage of the incident suggests there were at least three people involved. We fully recognize the local community will still be concerned, and our investigation very much remains active.”
The Islamist group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya has claimed responsibility for that incident and several attacks since March 9 against Jewish institutions in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Separately, a Dutch judge on Monday extended the remand of two teenagers, aged 14 and 17, who are suspected of planning to set off an explosive device near or set on fire a synagogue near Amsterdam, prosecutors said.
In a March 23 statement on the arraignment, the Dutch General Prosecution Service did not say whether the same group is believed to be involved in the two youths’ alleged attempt on March 20 to set off an explosive device outside the synagogue of Heemstede, a town some 15 miles west of the Dutch capital.
They were arrested due to a “suspicious situation,” the statement also said. Police found a cache of “heavy-duty fireworks” near the place of the teenagers’ arrest, according to the statement.
On March 14, Dutch police arrested four teenagers in connection with a suspected arson at a synagogue in Rotterdam. Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel said last week that the teens had been “recruited,” and that justice and security forces were looking into the possibility that they were working for Iran.
Israel’s embassy in the Netherlands wrote in a statement about the arraignment on Monday that the “swift action of the Dutch authorities is commendable,” adding: “However, the accumulation of antisemitic incidents in recent weeks, including in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, demonstrates the urgent need for more decisive action.”
