Two Jewish men injured in North London stabbing attack

Two British Jews were stabbed in London’s Golders Green neighborhood on Wednesday, according to the Shomrim emergency response organization.

Jewish security volunteers detained the suspected assailant, a 45-year-old man who was then subdued and arrested by police, the group said.

Shomrim, a predominantly Haredi volunteer organization, did not specify the severity of the victims’ injuries, but the Metropolitan Police of London wrote in a statement that the victims, a man in his 30s and a man in his 70s, were hospitalized and in “stable condition.” Shomrim said the victims were treated at the scene by medical personnel from Hatzola, an ultra-Orthodox community group specializing in rapid emergency medical response.

“One male was seen running along Golders Green Road armed with a knife and attempting to stab Jewish members of the public,” Shomrim wrote on X.

The organization’s personnel “responded immediately and detained the suspect. Police attended” and used a taser on him, according to the post.

The suspect also attempted to stab police officers, and was Tasered before being arrested, the police statement also said. No officers were injured in the incident. The suspect is being held for attempted murder, police also said. “We are working to establish his nationality and background,” a police spokesperson said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident “deeply concerning” in the House of Commons, the lower house of the British parliament, where a lawmaker asked him about it during a question-and-answer session. The country needs to be “absolutely clear in our determination to deal with any of these offences, the like of which we’ve seen too much recently,” he added.

British Opposition Leader Kemi Badenoch, head of the Conservative Party, wrote on X: “Jewish people in our country are under constant attack. This is no longer a growing pattern. There is an epidemic of violence against Jewish people. It is now a national emergency and needs to be treated as such by the Government and public authorities.”

Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, linked the incident to the policies of the British government, which has been critical of Israel and imposed a partial arms embargo on the Jewish state following its war on Hamas in Gaza as a result of the terrorist massacre of 1,200 people and kidnapping of 251 others in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Haskel wrote on X that the “attack in Golders Green is the inevitable result of policies that embolden and legitimize Islamist elements.” She added: “Tolerating unchecked incitement under the guise of ‘political criticism’ directly undermines the safety of the Jewish community and the basic right of visibly Jewish individuals to attend synagogue in their own neighborhood without fear.” The British government, she added, must understand that “anti-Israel rhetoric can escalate into physical violence, terror attacks in the streets and the murder of innocent people,” she added.

A spokesperson for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on X: “After attacks on synagogues, Jewish institutions, community ambulances and now Jews targeted in Golders Green, the U.K. government can no longer claim this is under control.” Keir Starmer’s statements, the post read, “are no substitute for confronting the roots of antisemitism festering across the United Kingdom.”

Following the incident, Matan Bar-Noy, the World Zionist Organization’s head of delegation in the United Kingdom, filmed himself taking off both his Jewish head covering and a pin featuring the Israeli and British flags.

“I’m taking off my kippah now in the street, and also my pin, because the instruction is to keep all Jewish symbols low-profile right now,” he said.

Bar-Noy did not say whose instruction he was following. “It’s sad that we’re in Britain—a free, democratic country that saved the Jews from the Nazis and the entire free world—and now you can’t walk around here safely as a Jew. Very sad,” he stated.