Inside the police operation to defend Jewish families facing ‘pandemic’ of antisemitism

B.Inspector Thomas Vie, who had his officers surrounded in a van in north London, warned that there was a “real possibility” that a terrorist would target Jewish events in the capital that night.

Five times as many police officers as usual were on duty on Tuesday to protect thousands of Orthodox Jewish families celebrating the religious holiday of Lag B’Omer, less than a week after two Jewish men were stabbed in a terror attack in Golders Green.

Hours earlier, a former synagogue in Tower Hamlets, east London, had been the target of an arson attack, the latest in a series of horrific incidents targeting London Jews.

Lag B’Omer is marked by parades, bonfires and dancing in the Jewish parts of the capital. The terror threat rating was raised to “substantial” at an event held at a school in Stamford Hill, home to one of Europe’s largest Hasidic communities.

The inspector told officers that although there was no specific intelligence about a planned attack, the overall picture suggested it was likely someone would try to target a Jewish religious holiday within the next six months.

“The overall terrorist threat picture suggests that there are bad people out there looking to attack a Jewish religious festival,” he told authorities they were there to deter and disrupt potential attackers, as well as to reassure attendees.

For the first time at the celebration on Egerton Road, men, women and children were protected by enemy vehicle barriers to prevent a terrorist from crashing into the crowd.

Shomrim, a volunteer-led service dedicated to protecting Jewish communities, has also doubled its security operation, with 50 volunteers working at the event.

Independent They were granted special access to Tuesday’s police operation, which is part of a growing effort to protect Jewish communities from an “epidemic” of antisemitism that has left many in fear.

The Metropolitan Police is dedicating 1,000 extra officer shifts each week to protect areas with large Jewish populations after the national terrorism threat level was raised to severe following the Golders Green attack.

Counter-terrorism police are patrolling vulnerable Jewish sites such as synagogues and schools “day and night” as they launch an investigation into multiple arson attacks, some linked to the Iran-backed group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya. Anti-Semitic hate crimes also rose to a two-year high, with 140 crimes last month.

According to reports, the government is expected to introduce a new law that would make people convicted of anti-Semitic attacks in Tehran face up to 14 years in prison.

Officials also announced the Met will receive £18 million for a dedicated community protection team of 100 extra officers as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces calls to stamp out antisemitism. But the one-off funding falls short of the 300-strong task force called for by Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.

Commander James Conway, who leads the force’s efforts to protect Jewish communities in London, said the cash injection was a “critical starting point” in responding to threats but warned more resources would be needed to sustain increased policing levels in the long term.

“We can’t build permanent teams unless you have multi-year certainty,” he said Independent. “This money allows us to start the process with 100 officers. We want to go even further.”

Londoner says Jews are being targeted “Unique combination of hate crime, hostile state threats and terrorism threats.”

As attacks intensified, police significantly increased visible patrols and The number of counter-terrorism vehicles protecting vulnerable areas increased sixfold, and unscheduled patrols were carried out around the clock.

Plainclothes police officers trained to detect suspects conducting hostile reconnaissance have also been deployed as part of Project Servator, and armed response units are also on call.

“The goal is to make our areas with a high Jewish population not hostile environments for Jewish people to live in, but hostile environments for our enemies,” he added.

“We don’t need to be there to protect a community. All communities in London should feel safe and free from the anxiety of operating in a secure way. It’s a sad, damning fact that our Jewish community can’t do that right now.”

In previous years, Lag B’Omer celebrations on the grounds of Yesodey Hatorah School were led by members of the local Charedi Jewish community. However, this year, in the face of increasing threats, they embarked on a major planning and security process together with the police and the municipality.

Organizer Levi Schapiro, founder of the Jewish Community Council, said: “In light of recent events, there is much more security in the area this year than any other year, and there is a much greater police presence to keep the community safe.”

He said the recent attacks had left families “very concerned”. After an hour-long meeting to discuss security arrangements, he added: “This has given you a good idea of ​​how painful it is that we have to spend so much time and money to keep our community safe, just to be able to live our normal lives, to be able to practice our faith, our religion, and that is of course very sad.”

“We cannot allow anti-Semitic terrorists to deter us from our way of life. We will continue. We will stay strong. This is difficult and as a society we are united against all odds and I hope we continue our way of life here in Britain.”

Malky, a 28-year-old Jewish mother who watched the celebrations with her baby in her arms, said that although the increased security made her feel safe, it was also sad.

he said Independent: “It’s very scary and we don’t really feel safe. It’s scary. There’s a lot of security and we feel taken care of. But it’s scary why we have it.”

Miriam, 38, was on the road where two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green last Wednesday. “I was literally on that road that day, just a few minutes away,” he added. “I was there that week and my daughter said, ‘Mom, I’m scared to go down that road.’ It makes them even more worried.”

Another mother, who watched the celebrations with her two-year-old child, said she felt “grateful” and relieved about the increased security measures.

“Police can’t stop a lone person, but it’s better than nothing and that’s the best we can do,” he added.

Shomrim had more than 100 volunteer security personnel working at various Lag B’Omer events in Stamford Hill on Tuesday. Director Shaye Fischer said the situation facing the Jewish community is the worst he can remember.

“We have to constantly look over our shoulders, who is behind us, who is coming,” he said.

“It’s very difficult for us, and we’re obviously Orthodox Jews. We’re proud to be Jewish and we’re staying strong, but we have to put some things in place. We have protections around our synagogues, our schools, our kindergartens, things that no other community has, and we shouldn’t have to live that way. But unfortunately that’s the reality.”