UK police say London stabbing of 2 Jewish men is terrorist incident

London police say the stabbing of two Jewish men on Wednesday has been declared a terrorist incident.Metropolitan Police say they are investigating whether the attack specifically targeted the Jewish community.The force says the incident, in the Golders Green area, left two men, aged 34 and 76, hospitalised with knife wounds.A 45-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.Police are investigating whether the stabbings are linked to recent arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites in the British capital.Police officers at the scene of a stabbing in London on Wednesday. Photo: EPA“Attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.The security organisation Shomrim said a suspect “was seen running along Golders Green Road armed with a knife and attempting to stab Jewish members of the public”.It said the suspect was detained by Shomrim members before being arrested by police, who used a stun gun on him.Surveillance camera footage showed a man beside a bus stop donning a kippah, or traditional skullcap, before a passer-by with a knife lunges at him.The Metropolitan Police said the suspect also tried to stab police officers, but none were injured.Police said they are working to establish the suspect’s nationality and background, and Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams said “investigators are considering all possible motives”.Arson attacks in recent weeks targeted Jewish sites in London, including a charity’s ambulances in Golders Green and a synagogue a few miles away.Further Reading“It happens in Israel, but happening on our own doorstep, of course it’s shocking,” said Golders Green resident Moishe Grunfeld.“I have kids, I have grandchildren.”There must be absolutely no place for antisemitism in societyBritain’s Jewish community is long-established but tiny as a percentage of the population, numbering about 300,000.The northwest London suburb of Golders Green is one of its epicentres, home to kosher restaurants, Jewish schools and several dozen synagogues, as well as large Asian and Middle Eastern communities.“There must be absolutely no place for antisemitism in society,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said.No one was injured in the arson incidents. Several people, ranging in age from teens to people in their 40s, have been arrested and charged.Counterterror officers are investigating whether the arson attacks were the work of Iranian proxies.A police officer asks members of the Jewish community to move away from a cordon in London on Wednesday after two people were stabbed and a suspect arrested. Photo: AFPThe UK has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting opposition media outlets and the Jewish community.Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service says more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year ending in October.Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said Jews face a campaign of violence and intimidation and that words of condemnation are no longer sufficient.“This must be a moment that demands meaningful action from every institution, every community, every leader and every decent person in our country. This is a hatred that we must face down together,” he said.Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the world must “wake up” to a rising wave of anti-Jewish hatred.“In one of the great capital cities of the West, it has become dangerous to openly walk the streets as a Jew,” Herzog posted on X.“This is an unacceptable situation.”04:50Father, son alleged gunmen in Hanukkah shooting on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing 15Father, son alleged gunmen in Hanukkah shooting on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing 15The number of antisemitic incidents reported across the UK has soared since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel and the subsequent Gaza war, according to the Community Security Trust.The group recorded 3,700 incidents in 2025, up from 1,662 in 2022.In October 2025, an attacker drove his car into people gathered outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur and stabbed one person to death.Another person died during the attack after being inadvertently shot by police.