2 arrested for trying to torch London synagogue in what cops call an antisemitic attack |
Police in London arrested two people on Wednesday over an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in the north of the city, amid an upsurge in antisemitic incidents in Britain.
The pair — a 47-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man — were detained in Watford, north of the capital, and are being held in custody, police said.
The attack shortly after midnight on Wednesday came after an arson attack on ambulances run by the Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzalah in London last month and a deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester in October 2025.
The latest incident targeting the Finchley Reform Synagogue, which police said was being treated as an “antisemitic hate crime,” was being investigated with support from counter-terrorism detectives.
“I hope the swift action by officers today to identify and arrest two people provides some reassurance and demonstrates how seriously we take attacks of this nature,” Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams, who leads policing in the area, said in a statement.
“We are aware of the significant concern that this incident will cause in the community, particularly in the wake of the arson attack in Golders Green last month,” said Williams, referencing the ambulance arson attack.
Describing the attack in an earlier statement, police said two people wearing dark clothing and balaclavas approached the synagogue in Finchley and “threw two bottles suspected to contain petrol,” which did not ignite, the Metropolitan Police Force said.
Local member of parliament Sarah Sackman said she refused to accept such incidents becoming “the new normal.”
“This shocking attempt to harm a local synagogue follows a series of alarming attacks on the Jewish community in Finchley and Golders Green,” she said in a statement.
“British Jews must be free to go about their lives without fear – whether taking their children to nursery or attending synagogue. We do not want to live behind ever higher walls.”
Monitoring groups have reported an upsurge in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in Britain, particularly since the start of the war Gaza war sparked by Hamas’s terror onslaught on October 7, 2023.
The Community Security Trust recorded 3,700 instances of anti-Jewish hate across the UK last year, a four percent rise on 2024, but down on 2023.
Two men and a boy have been charged over the ambulance attack on March 23, in which four Hatzalah ambulances were destroyed.
The 2025 Yom Kippur attack on the Manchester synagogue left two people dead and three seriously injured, prompting increased anxiety among Jewish communities.
In February, a court jailed two men for life after police foiled a separate plot to carry out an Islamic State-inspired gun attack on a Jewish gathering in Manchester.
Two Iranians also appeared in court in London in March, accused of spying on the Jewish community in London on behalf of Tehran.
Earlier this year, the British government announced that about 28 million pounds ($38 million) would be provided to help provide security at synagogues, Jewish schools and community centers.
Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the Iran war right now? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:
Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock under difficult conditions to cover this conflict;
Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and emails; and
Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
You clearly find our careful reporting of the Iran war valuable, at a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.
Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically during this ongoing conflict.
So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you'll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
1 Iran used Chinese spy satellite to target US military bases in Middle East – report
2 Inside storyIsrael boxes Paris out of Lebanon talks, halts arms buys as French disconnect grows
3 Trump says no need to extend Iran ceasefire, as talks to end war continue
4 AnalysisIsrael-Lebanon talks unlikely to yield much until Iran undergoes fundamental change
5 InterviewMy grandfather, the Nazi: A German historian helps families unravel forebears’ crimes
6 Op-edNetanyahu claims to have prevented an Iranian-wrought second Holocaust. If only we could be so sure
7 Hormuz traffic remains at a trickle as US blockade of Iranian ports appears to hold
8 Cops detain 70 Palestinians hiding in garbage truck while trying to enter Israel
antisemitism in the UK