Victims remain hospitalized, but their conditions stabilize

Starmer booed at site of Golders Green terror; promises to tackle antisemitism, extremism

Protesters chant ‘Keir Starmer, Jew Harmer’; anti-terror chief says attacks on Jews are UK’s ‘biggest national security emergency,’ $33M allocated for security; UK PM: Iran seeking ‘to harm British Jews’

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on Thursday to deal with “the root causes of extremism and antisemitism” after the stabbing of two Jewish men in the heavily Jewish London neighborhood of Golders Green.

Starmer said in a video statement that the fight against antisemitism is an issue for “everyone in this country,” and vowed to stand with the Jewish community after the attack, which authorities have formally declared a terrorist incident.

But as he visited Golders Green on Thursday, protesters gathered to criticize what they said was longstanding government inaction. They booed and chanted “Keir Starmer, Jew Harmer” as he arrived in the neighborhood.

Following the terrorist attack, the government announced that it would provide an extra £25 million ($33.65 million) to increase security for the Jewish community.

Attacks on British Jews are the country’s “biggest national security emergency” in almost a decade, the government’s adviser on terrorism, Jonathan Hall KC, told the BBC.

Starmer said in a meeting on Wednesday with criminal justice agencies that authorities must respond to the attack in a “swift, agile and visible way” to that day’s attack in Golders Green.

“A number of people have been arrested, a number of them go through the criminal justice system, and it’s really important that we are able collectively to demonstrate that the response will be swift and visible,” he said.

“There’s no getting away from the fact that this was not a one-off,” he added. “This has been a series of attacks on our Jewish community, particularly in recent weeks, and there is a very deep sense of anxiety, of concern about security, about safety, about identity frankly.”

The assailant, a 45-year-old British citizen born in Somalia, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said Thursday that the suspect has a history of serious violence and mental health issues, and was known to the government’s counter-radicalization Prevent program.

He was identified on Thursday as Essa Suleiman. He was born in Somalia but immigrated to the United Kingdom in the 1990s, according to the BBC.

The suspect came to the UK “lawfully” when he was a child, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the BBC on Wednesday.

The newly formed terror group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI) claimed responsibility for the attack. The group is believed to have links to Iran and has claimed credit for some of the recent antisemitic incidents in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

Members of the city’s Jewish community expressed outrage over the attack, the latest in a series of antisemitic incidents that have continued since Hamas launched its war with Israel on October 7, 2023.

Starmer on Thursday accused Iran of wanting “to harm British Jews.”

“We need stronger powers to tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran, because we know for a fact that they want to harm British Jews,” he said in a statement delivered from Downing Street.

Later Thursday, Britain raised its national terrorism threat level to “severe,” signaling that a terrorist attack was considered highly likely.

Interior minister Shabana Mahmood said the level had been increased from “substantial” after the attack in the Golders Green area on Wednesday, adding that the decision reflected a broader and rising threat environment rather than a single event.

Sequence of attack

The attack occurred at approximately 11:16 a.m. on Wednesday on Highfield Avenue. CCTV footage captured the suspect walking casually toward a 76-year-old man wearing a kippah who was waiting at a bus stop. The assailant suddenly lunged, grabbing the victim with his left hand while repeatedly swinging a knife at his upper body.

Approximately 10 minutes later, a 34-year-old man was also stabbed nearby. Witnesses described the suspect as appearing to “hunt” for anyone visibly Jewish.

Shomrim volunteers were able to detain the suspect before Metropolitan Police officers arrived. After he allegedly attempted to stab the officers, they deployed Pava spray and a Taser to subdue him.

Officers were heard yelling “drop the knife” repeatedly before he fell to the ground.

The victims were initially treated by the Hatzola ambulance service, Shomrim said. Jewish community medics also treated the suspect, according to reports.

The attack took place some 300 yards from the site of an arson attack earlier this month targeting four Hatzola ambulances parked outside a synagogue.

The victims

The two victims remain in the hospital in stable condition. They have been identified as Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76. Britain’s chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, using their Hebrew names, urged people to pray for Nachman Moshe ben Chaya Sarah and Moshe ben Baila.

Rand’s mother told the BBC she visited her son in the hospital and that he was in stable condition.

“As a mother, I’m pretty horrified that these things could happen on the streets of London, in an innocent community where we try our best not to hurt anyone,” she said. “Shloime was walking on the street, minding his own business. I was able to see him yesterday. Thank God, he was conscious the whole time. We hope he will be home before Shabbat.”

Rand’s sister told The Daily Mail that Rand, who is also a US citizen, had left a synagogue shortly before he was stabbed. The knife wounds came within centimeters of hitting his vital organs, she said.

“It’s appalling, but also not surprising,” the sister said. “We get targeted by antisemitism all the time.”

Shine, who was said to pray every day at the synagogue, was described by friends as “a lovely man who minded his own business and never bothered anyone.”

‘I’d see him at congregation every day,” one friend told The Daily Mail. “He was a firm part of the community.

British Jews at a ‘breaking point’

The attack was the latest in a spate of incidents in the UK targeting sites connected to the Jewish community, including the Hatzolah ambulances, as well as groups hostile to the Iranian regime.

The incident took place only some 500 yards from a memorial wall dedicated to Israelis killed by the Hamas terror group and Iranians killed by the Islamic Republic, which was targeted in an arson attack on Tuesday.

Additionally, the Finchley Reform Synagogue was targeted in an attempted arson attack earlier this month, followed by a separate attack on the Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow.

Antisemitic incidents in the United Kingdom reached their second-highest level on record in 2025, with 3,700 anti-Jewish hate incidents, led by the deadly terror attack targeting a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, according to data from the Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism and provides security for British Jews.

Following the attack, Britain’s security minister Dan Jarvis said the government would provide an extra 25 million pounds ($33.65 million) to protect the Jewish community.

The government will also fast-track new legislation in order to tackle state threats, which will provide additional capability for the government, Jarvis said.

Lord John Mann, an independent adviser to the government on antisemitism, told Sky News on Thursday that British Jews feel they are at a “breaking point” following the continued attacks. If the country doesn’t address rising antisemitism in a meaningful way, many could leave, he warned.

“Perception is reality, and the reality is that there’s a danger there,” Mann said. The UK cannot afford for the Jewish community to say “this is no longer the country for us,” he added.

“Jewish people in this country have always had to flee from somewhere to get here,” he said. “Fleeing will take time, but it will happen.”

‘Extraordinary’ volunteer response

Rowley, the police commissioner, thanked police officers “who were on the scene within a few minutes, and whose actions undoubtedly prevented further injury and saved lives.” During the arrest, officers feared the suspect was carrying an explosive device, and they stunned him as he continued to try to attack them, he said.

Rowley also recognized “extraordinary voluntary first responders from the community, including the Shomrim.”

Rowley hinted that the rise in antisemitic violence may be led by malicious actors overseas.

“We’ve seen a rise in racist and antisemitic hate crime, and whilst I can’t comment on my investigations, we know that some individuals are being encouraged, persuaded or paid to commit acts of violence on behalf of foreign organisations and hostile states,” he said.