Mother-of-two tells of heart-stopping moment she rushed into Golders Green shop as knifeman charged towards her and her son’s pram – before ‘he stabbed two innocent Jews’

A mother-of-two who narrowly escaped a knife-wielding man in Golders Green has described the terrifying moment she ran into a store as the attacker attacked her.

Natalie Mahalla, 31, from Hendon, north London, was pushing her one-year-old son in a stroller when two Israeli men shouted from their car, warning her that a man was running towards her.

He grabbed his son and an elderly woman from the street and ran to a nearby shop for safety, then called the police shortly after 11.15am.

A few minutes later, two Jews, Shloime Rand (34) and Moshe Shine (76), were stabbed.

The knife-wielding man attempted to stab other Jewish residents and police officers before being tasered and arrested.

A 45-year-old man was arrested.

Police have since declared the incident an act of terrorism and counter-terrorism officers are ‘working to establish the circumstances’ [the suspect’s] nationality and history.

Ms Mahalla told the Daily Mail she saw an ‘aggressive’ expression on the knife-wielding man’s face and was convinced he was ‘on a mission to cause harm’.

She said: ‘I was just shopping, walking with the car, and suddenly I heard a man screaming in Hebrew from the car, warning me that there was a man coming fast towards me. The man was shouting in Hebrew, “He has a knife in his hand.”

Natalie Mahalla, 31, from Hendon, north London, was pushing her one-year-old son in a stroller when two Israeli men shouted from their car to warn her that the alleged attacker (pictured) was advancing towards her.

A man runs to help an elderly man who was stabbed at a bus stop by a Golders Green knifeman

“When I looked at what was happening, I immediately thought ‘this is a terrorist attack.’ If you think about where it happened, it was just a few meters away from the arson attacks.”

‘I saw him running past. ‘I couldn’t actually see his hand because his hand was on his arm, he was definitely holding something but he was covering it with his arm.’

The mother said she knew the victims and their families who were in stable condition.

The stabbings are the latest in a wave of violence against the Jewish community.

Wednesday’s attack took place on Highfield Avenue, just minutes from where four Jewish community ambulances were bombed last month.

Police are also investigating arson attacks on two other synagogues in north London and a memorial wall in Golders Green.

And in October, two Jewish men were killed when Jihad Al-Shamie crashed his car into Manchester’s Heaton Park Synagogue before attacking congregants on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

Ms Mahalla said there was a sense of ‘anger’ among the Jewish community.

He said: ‘[There is] Anger at the whole society. Protests continue with people shouting “Globalize the Intifada”. This globalizes the Intifada.

A mother who was woken up in the middle of the night by loud noises during arson attacks on ambulances last month said she could not believe the extent of anti-Semitic violence in the UK.

Golders Green suspect wanders around with knife

He is now ‘desperate’ to move to Israel, where he believes it is much easier to be Jewish than in England.

He said: ‘When I walk down the street in Israel I don’t look over my shoulder.

‘Of course you’re looking over your head from rockets and things like that, but you know, at least you get a warning that rockets are coming or you know you’re going to be in a war.

‘There is no war here. ‘We shouldn’t have to look over our shoulders as we walk down the street.’

Angry bystanders cornered Sir Mark Rowley at the scene of a double stabbing in north London on Wednesday and called on him to resign after a series of anti-Semitic attacks.

The Daily Mail understands that the knifeman was known to both the police and the Government’s Countering Radicalisation program ahead of the attack in north London on Wednesday.

It was understood that the person, whose name was not disclosed, had previously been in prison for violent crimes.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyye (HAYI) claimed responsibility for the attack a few hours after the suspect’s arrest, but this claim was met with skepticism.

Asked directly whether Jews were safe, the Met chief said he could “never give absolute assurance” but insisted his force had done “everything we can do to protect people in difficult times”.

Two Jews are in stable condition in hospital after the attack

Responding to calls for ‘resignation’ and ‘shame on you’, Britain’s most senior police officer said he understood why Jewish Londoners were ‘frightened and angry’ after the latest attack.

Speaking to reporters, Sir Mark Rowley said: ‘It is entirely understandable why Jewish Londoners are afraid. That’s why we do so much policing of these events. We will see what more we can do in the coming weeks.

‘I have received so many thanks from Jewish communities for the extra policing work that has been done over the last few weeks, so people know that officers are doing all they can to protect them.’

Sir Mark warned of a rise in anti-Semitic violence fueled from abroad, adding: ‘Let me be clear, we have seen an increase in racist and anti-Semitic hate crimes, and while I cannot comment on my investigations, we do know that some people have been encouraged, persuaded or paid to carry out violent acts on behalf of foreign organizations and enemy states.’