British Jewish Community Given £3 Million by Government for Extra Security

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis (left) and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attend a vigil for the victims of the Hamas attacks, at Finchley United Synagogue in central London on Oct. 9, 2023. (PA)

Downing Street has announced the Community Security Trust (CST) will be given an additional £3 million to provide extra security for Britain’s Jewish population in the wake of the Hamas attacks in Israel.

It comes after three Jewish schools in north London decided to close for the day on Friday after one of the leaders of Hamas called for a “day of rage” against Israel.

In a statement made from his office in Qatar, Khaled Meshaal, who heads the diaspora office of Hamas, said, “To all scholars who teach jihad ... to all who teach and learn, this is a moment for the application.”

The CST said it had recorded a 400 percent spike in anti-Semitic incidents in the UK since Hamas terrorists poured over the border from the Gaza Strip and slaughtered hundreds of innocent Israelis on Saturday.

Israel is preparing a ground offensive against Hamas and on Friday morning the Israeli military called for all Gaza City civilians—more than 1 million people—to relocate to the enclave’s southern regions within the next 24 hours.

There are fears that as the Israeli assault on Gaza gathers pace, there could be even more anti-Semitic attacks in London, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow and other cities with prominent Jewish populations.

Downing Street said the extra money would allow the CST to place additional guards outside Jewish schools and synagogues, especially on Friday nights and Saturday mornings when Jews mark the Shabbat (sabbath).

The head teachers of three London schools—Torah Vodaas Primary School in Edgware, Ateres Beis Yaakov Primary School in Colindale, and Menorah High School in Neasden—told parents they would be closed until Monday.

Elsewhere, there has been an anecdotal rise in the number of anti-Semitic incidents.

Trevor Stern, a U.S. student at Oxford University, wrote in The Times of London he and his room-mate had put up a mezuzah—a traditional Jewish prayer scroll—on the door of their room in a student building on Wednesday night and found it torn down the following morning.

‘It Left me Feeling Quite Shaken’

“It left me feeling quite shaken. This was a case of anti-Semitic harassment by someone in the building. I have experienced anti-Semitism in Oxford (before) but not usually from students,” Mr. Stern wrote.

The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said the Hamas atrocities were the third-deadliest terror attack in the world since 1970—after 9/11 and an ISIS attack in Iraq in 2014—and he said Britain would, “continue to stand in solidarity with Israel.”

Gunmen stand as mourners attend the funeral of two Palestinians who were killed in clashes with Israeli forces, near Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Oct. 11, 2023. (Reuters/Raneen sawafta)

He said: “At moments like this, when the Jewish people are under attack in their homeland, Jewish people everywhere can feel less safe. That is why we must do everything in our power to protect Jewish people everywhere in our country. If anything is standing in the way of keeping the Jewish community safe, we will fix it.”

Earlier this week the home secretary, Suella Braverman, wrote to police chiefs urging them to treat the waving of Palestinian flags or chanting pro-Arab songs as public order offences.

On Thursday, Dame Sara Khan, a former Home Office anti-extremism commissioner, said there were “glaring gaps” in Britain’s counter-terrorism legislation which had created a “permissive environment” for anti-Semitic hateful extremists to operate in.

The CST issued a statement on Friday, which said: “In Britain, CST has seen a serious increase in anti-Semitism against Jewish people and property. This is what happens when Israel is attacked or is at war.”

“It happens because of Jew hatred and for no other reason. CST’s mission is to stand against this hatred, to protect our community and its way of life,” it added.

The CST statement added, “We are working in close partnership with police, government and all of our communal organisations, doing everything that we can to secure the physical and mental well-being of British Jews.”

British Jews Urged to be ‘Vigilant’

They urged British Jews to be “calm and resilient” and “vigilant.”

Mr. Sunak convened a meeting on Thursday to discuss the policing of protests expected over this weekend.

The chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, Donna Jones, who attended the meeting, said the police intended to clamp down on clothing which supported Hamas and anti-Jewish chanting.

She told LBC Mr. Sunak and Ms. Braverman reiterated, “their strength of feeling around the fact that people using flags or wearing particular items of clothing or masks indicating support of Hamas is in fact an offence under terrorist law, because they are a proscribed terrorist organisation.”

Police say a 22-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation, Hamas, at a protest in Brighton on Sunday.

Counter-Terrorism Policing South East said she was detained on Thursday under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

PA Media contributed to this report.