Sir Keir Starmer has been told he must tackle the “pandemic” of antisemitic attacks in Britain after two Jewish men were brutally stabbed by a knifeman in a terrorist attack in London.
Disturbing CCTV footage captured the moment a man wearing a white T-shirt and dark jacket launched an unprovoked attack on an elderly man wearing a kippah (skullcap), near a bus stop in Golders Green, northwest London.
The alleged assailant was seen walking up the road before he suddenly drew a blade and lunged at the man at around 11.15am on Wednesday, before walking away and leaving his victim bleeding from the neck, witnesses said. Further footage shows the knifeman running to catch up with another Jewish man, who shouts in fear and runs away.
He allegedly then tried to stab members of the public who tried to stop him, before turning on police officers, who tasered him and secured him before he was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the suspect is a 45-year-old British national who was born in Somalia, and that they are investigating an earlier “altercation” in Southwark which left a person with minor injuries.
Police were called to Great Dover Street at 8.50am after receiving reports of a man with a knife at an address, but the individual was not found despite searches.
Responding to the attack, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded action to protect British Jews and warned, “Words are not enough to confront this scourge”, in a scathing attack on No 10’s response to a string of recent antisemitic incidents.
The two victims of the latest incident, aged 76 and 34, named online by chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis as Nachman Moshe ben Chaya Sarah and Moshe Ben Baila, are in a stable condition in hospital after the attack in Highfield Avenue. Counterterrorism police formally declared it a terror incident, following a series of arson attacks targeting Jewish sites in north London.
The Met’s assistant commissioner of specialist operations, Laurence Taylor, confirmed investigators were working with security services on the probe, adding: “One of the lines of enquiry is whether this attack was deliberately targeting the Jewish community in London.”
The man in police custody has a history of serious violence and mental health issues, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley revealed in a statement at the scene.
He said it was “another horrendous act of violence directed against our Jewish communities”, as he faced chants of “shame on you” and calls to resign from angry members of the public.
However, he defended the Met’s response to rising antisemitism and praised his officers’ actions as “nothing short of extraordinary” after they tackled the suspected terrorist, who they believed was carrying an explosive device, “using only their training, their courage and their Tasers”.
He vowed to continue stepped-up patrols in Jewish communities, adding: “Too many Jewish people in this country feel they have to make choices that no other Briton ever has to make. They have to make choices about how they dress, where they go, or how visibly they live their lives. That’s completely unacceptable and has gone on far too long.”
Although he said he could not comment on ongoing investigations into recent incidents, he added: “We know that some individuals are being encouraged, persuaded or paid to commit acts of violence on behalf of foreign organisations and hostile states.”
The prime minister convened a Cobra meeting over the “deeply concerning” attack as Jewish leaders condemned the latest incident, while home secretary Shabana Mahmood pledged that the government would “strain every sinew” to keep Jewish people safe.
The scene is around half a mile from a memorial wall where an attempted arson attack took place on Monday and near to where four Jewish community ambulances were destroyed by fire in late March. A synagogue in Manchester also came under attack in October last year, where worshippers Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz lost their lives.
“After attacks on synagogues, Jewish institutions, community ambulances and now Jews targeted in Golders Green, the UK government can no longer claim this is under control,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, adding: “Enough words. The UK must act decisively and urgently.”
Debbie Fox, the chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said of the rise in attacks: “This is not just a rise or a spate. This is becoming a pandemic.”
She added: “It’s a feeling of horror. It’s this pit in my stomach that seems to be there day in and day out. Most of us wake up every morning, and our first thoughts are when and where, but not if.”
Sir Ephraim called for “meaningful action” and said it was time for the “silent majority in the UK to raise their voices” against antisemitism.
He added: “Following the antisemitic stabbing of two Jewish people on the streets of Golders Green this morning, 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.”
Ben Grossnass, a volunteer in Shomrim’s emergency response unit, which is a volunteer-run safety service in Jewish communities, was among the first on the scene.
“I saw a lot of shock in the street, and the attacker was having CPR. I think he went into cardiac arrest after being tasered,” he said.
“There is a lot of hate in society and antisemitism. There are ways the government can crack down on this, and it is time they did that.”
Tariq Aziz, a pizza shop worker, helped an elderly victim who was bleeding from his neck. He said the suspect “wasn’t running away” and when the police arrived, he pointed out the suspect as he was “just walking down there with a knife”.
There were 106 religious hate crimes per 10,000 population targeted at Jewish people in the year to March 2025, according to Home Office figures published in October.
Separate figures from the Community Security Trust (CST) recorded the second-highest number of anti-Jewish hate incidents in 2025, with 3,700 incidents, up from 3,556 in 2024.
The CST, which monitors antisemitism in the UK, said the record high remained at 4,298 antisemitic incidents reported in 2023, the year of the 7 October attack, which prompted a spike in recorded cases of anti-Jewish hate in the UK.
The King is being kept fully informed of developments in the attack, and his “thoughts and prayers” are with the victims, Buckingham Palace said.
