British Jews “are being forced to live smaller lives” and are “in fear” due to rising antisemitism, U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said on Monday.
Mahmood made the remark during a speech before members and donors of the CST Jewish communal security group in London.
The speech had been long scheduled, but closely followed the suspected torching earlier on Monday by an Islamist group of four ambulances of the Hatzola Jewish emergency group in the British capital.
“History has repeatedly screamed its warning at us. And yet, here we are again, in 2026, with the oldest hatred rising once more,” The Telegraph quoted Mahmood as saying.
“Today, Jews in this country are being forced to live a smaller life: they are hiding the signs of their faith. They are fearful as they send their children to school. Even when they attend a hospital appointment,” Mahmood added.
Commenting on the suspected arson in London, Mahmood said the unidentified perpetrators would be “pursued and made to face the consequences of their vile actions.”
Three males were filmed by CCTV cameras as they approached the ambulances in Highfield Road in the neighborhood of Golders Green at around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, The Telegraph reported.
The incident drew strong-worded condemnations, including from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, an Islamist group that has assumed responsibility for attacks in Liege, Belgium, and in the Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, claimed responsibility for the London fire as well, which London police are treating as an antisemitic incident.
Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism in a report from last week said that content published by the group, which surfaced in Europe this month following an explosion outside a synagogue in Liege on March 9, “spread quickly on Telegram channels affiliated with Shi’ite militant networks and pro-Iranian circles, including channels linked to Hezollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”
No one was hurt in any of the explosions for which the Islamist group claimed responsibility, or in the London fire. However, about 30 people needed to be evacuated from their homes in Golders Green because of the conflagration.
