British Jews are grappling with heightened feelings of vulnerability, fear, and a "deepening sense of isolation" in the wake of an overnight arson attack targeting ambulances.
Many have already adopted public safety precautions in recent years, according to a leading figure in Jewish security.
Mark Gardner, the chief executive of the Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism in the UK, said that some people feel cautious about the name they use when booking an Uber.
Others have voiced concern about how they will be treated in hospital should their Jewish identity become known.
He said that while the latest incident would undoubtedly shock people, it would not come as a surprise.
“There’s a lot more resolve than you might expect from British Jews all across the country. Maybe it’s because of everything that they’ve been through for the last two-and-a-half years (since the October 2023 Hamas attack),” he said.
“British Jews are determined to lead the life of their choice. But, at the same time, a lot of people are taking precautions in public, and nobody should blame them for doing so.”
Asked what kind of precautions, he said: “People are cautious about what name they give when they get in an Uber. People have expressed concern about using hospitals if staff might realise that they’re Jewish.
“These are the kind of things where the concern about the levels of general antisemitism impacts the upon the dignity of British Jews.”
The latest official figures on hate crime recorded by police in England and Wales showed that Jewish people had the highest rate of religious hate crimes targeted towards them than any other faith group.
In the year to March 2025, there were 106 religious hate crimes per 10,000 population targeted at Jewish people, the Home Office said in figures published in October.
Separate figures covering the 12 months of 2025, published earlier this year by the CST, concluded the second-highest annual total ever recorded for anti-Jewish hate incidents, at 3,700 – up 4 per cent on the 3,556 incidents recorded in 2024.
The CST said the annual record high remained at 4,298 antisemitic incidents reported in 2023 – the year of the October 7 attack, which prompted a spike in recorded cases of anti-Jewish hate in the UK.
The 2025 report was also the first time more than 200 cases of anti-Jewish hate were recorded in every calendar month.
The report noted that dozens of antisemitic incidents were reported in the aftermath of the deadly Manchester synagogue attack, some celebrating what had happened.
Worshippers Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed when 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie, a Syrian-born British citizen, drove into the gates of the Heaton Park synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, in October last year, and then began attacking with a knife, wearing a fake suicide belt.
It was the first fatal antisemitic terror attack in the UK since the CST began recording incidents in 1984.
Earlier this month a number of arrests were made of individuals on suspicion of spying for Iran on locations and individuals linked to the British Jewish community.
Mr Gardner said while this had “caused great concern to the Jewish community, police and Government, the reaction from the media and from political activist groups was at best muted”.
He added: “Compare that to the reaction that would have followed if Israeli agents had been arrested on similar charges relating to British Muslims. The contrast is profound and deeply worrying.”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the latest incident in north-west London is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, with CCTV showing three individuals setting light to an ambulance in the early hours of Monday.
There were no injuries reported in the attack on the Jewish community ambulance service, Hatzola, in Highfield Road, Golders Green, at about 1.45am.
Mr Gardner said: “Ever since the Hamas attacks against Israel, October 2023, and the subsequent wars that have followed, British Jews have faced a very high increase in racist attacks and also a deepening sense of isolation.”
He said while “a lot of support is given by the Government and the police”, there is a sense that “civil society and the kind of activist groups and media outlets that the Jewish community might expect support from simply gives a very, very cold shoulder to our concerns”.
Damon Hoff, president of Machzike Hadath synagogue where the ambulances were parked, said the community was feeling vulnerable.
He said: “When you attack a place of worship, and you attack ambulances, you’re going for the very heart and core of what’s decent about this country, and there must be outrage for that.
“The political establishment needs to know that there are many decent Britons that are going to feel vulnerable. In a time like this, you need the very best of humanity.
“The community is feeling vulnerable and feeling frightened, but we’re not going to let that get us down.”
Dov Forman, a campaigner against antisemitism and the great-grandson of Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert who died in 2024, said the Jewish community “can’t just keep besieging ourselves”.
The local resident said he knows young Jewish people who are leaving the country because they do not feel safe, adding: “This will only add to that.”
