For Britain’s Jewish community, encountering armed officers stationed outside schools, synagogues, and community events is an all-too-familiar scene.

Recent incidents, such as the shocking events at Bondi Beach and an attack near a Manchester synagogue in October, have intensified fears, leaving many to question whether the UK remains a secure place for Jews.

Golders Green, nestled in the leafy suburbs of North London, stands as the heart of Jewish life in Britain.

The area exudes a village-like charm where professionals, stylish mothers in athletic wear, and ultra-Orthodox Jews frequently pause to inquire about family members or discuss the escalating price of smoked salmon.

This community is united by shared traditions and a belief in the security found within their numbers.

However, the recent attacks have shattered any sense of safety, leaving residents to grapple with the difficult choice of staying or seeking refuge abroad.

CST volunteers are patrolling the streets, schools have ramped up security and parents are looking over their shoulders. 

‘Do I feel safe? No. With what is happening around the world and what happened in Manchester why would I?’ Peyman Hakimi, who owns a traditional Kosher bakery in Temple Fortune told the Daily Mail. 

‘Everybody is on the edge they’re all feeling tension, everybody is trying to plan to get out of the UK. 

‘Everybody says they want to move I don’t know anybody that says they want to stay here they say there’s no future for Jews in London anymore.’

Antisemitism in the UK has reached an all time high.

In the first six months of 2025 there were 84 cases of damage and desecration of Jewish property, 96 incidents of direct threats, 21 incidents of mass-produced Antisemitic Literature and 1,236 incidents of abusive behaviour.

As a result, the three biggest Jewish schools in the UK and subsequent outward Jewish areas have seen a larger security presence patrolling the streets, a sight that is considered standard among the community. 

A parent, who chose to remain anonymous said she sees no future for her children in the UK.

She said: ‘Since October 7 we’ve been in a state of heightened security and so strangely I’ve got used to the concept of my children having to undergo terrorism training but obviously there’s a concern every time something like this happens that their anxiety levels are rising or am I putting my fear on them. 

‘We’re no longer in a position as Jewish parents to hide from our children how we feel and it has become more of a conversation in our house whether we feel there will be Jews in this country in 20 years time. 

‘If we continue on the trajectory that we’ve been on I don’t see myself here, my family have been here for four generations but it’s not the same country that my grandparents came to or that my parents grew up in. 

‘If we see an exodus of Jews in Britain then I will be going with them. But my roots are British my family are British. 

‘I thought we reached a point where we are integrated, our generation is about being kind to everyone but that doesn’t spread to Jews and it’s because the makeup of the country is changing. 

‘Much like the Jewish people had to move from Poland I see us doing that again, moving somewhere else and transplanting ourselves there will be a time where Britain mourns that they don’t have a thriving Jewish community.’

Most recently, Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, were killed outside Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue on Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

And with Jews making up just 0.4 per cent of the population it is no wonder they’re scared. 

Gideon Falter, chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘The attack in Sydney was the most barbaric start to Chanukah than we could have imagined, I think for Jews in Britain we were immediately taken back to the attack in Manchester on Yom Kippur.

‘Its now become an unfortunately familiar feeling for Jews all over the world that every time there’s a festival we see breaking news alerts and our screens filled with the most barbaric footage. 

‘We in Britain were taken straight back to the attack in Manchester, and I think for many there’s a feeling that it could have been here it could have been us. 

‘There are people on trial in the UK right now who are accused of acquiring assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition to perpetrate a mass shooting of Jews. There were two people arrested by the Met in London with being charged with being members of Hezbollah and preparing a terrorist attack. 

‘So for Jews all over the UK this felt like the inevitable next step that has followed years of incitement.’ 

Last Sunday, 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl were killed in a terrorist attack on Bondi Beach in Sydney, targeting a Jewish holiday celebration. 

Two heavily armed men opened fire at the popular spot today, using military-grade weapons to cut down innocents celebrating Chanukah, the festival of light. 

Despite the massacre happening on the other side of the world, those living in Golders Green have mourned for members of their community living in Australia, with people openly crying on the side of the street.

Asmahan who works in a Kosher cafe said: ‘Just yesterday I had a customer who started talking to me about what happened in Australia she said she kept having nightmares and I think a lot of people in the community feel the same, they’re really affected and scared

‘At the moment it’s a bit tricky especially after what happened in Australia, we can imagine something like that happening in Golders Green, I hear a noise and I get scared. 

‘Because of everything that’s happened if people want to use the toilet we say no because you never know their intentions.

‘But you notice people get scared to go out immediately after an attack. The week of the Manchester attack very few people came in, it was empty. 

‘It’s all fine it’s safe here but you never know because people know it’s a Jewish area it’s a target.’

The Jewish community in Golders Green and the surrounding areas are proud of their heritage.

Step out onto the high street and it’s obvious that cultural markers like bagel shops and butchers have woven themselves between typical staples like a Gail’s and Pret. 

People feel they can openly express their religious identity because it is ‘normal’ in the area.

Louise Toeman, who owns a Kosher fishmonger in Temple Fortune said: ‘The shop has been here since 1947 my grandfather started it, and I got involved six or seven years ago it’s a family business. 

‘My customers are acutely aware of Antisemitism I don’t think people are scared we’ve got such an incredible community that I think if something untoward happened the community would rally around completely. 

‘I think we’re such a close knit community that we all look after each other we don’t experience it in the community because we’re the majority.’

Aryeh Gavzey, a local butcher added: ‘In general, I feel as safe as I’ve ever been but that’s always been a little unsafe. 

‘Being here in the Jewish areas I feel the safest. There’s always things happening but being in this environment and going through the Jewish areas I feel safer because it’s more normalised and there’s less prejudice. 

‘On the street I see other Jews and everyone knows each other, they stop to say hi, when you’re living in a community it is safer. 

‘But everyone is mourning what happened in Australia at the moment, it’s all my customers are talking about.’

One of the bodies that makes Jewish people feel safer is the Community Security Trust (CST). 

CST provide security advice and equipment to Jewish schools, organisations and synagogues across the UK.

They also work with the police to ensure there is a security presence in certain areas and several members of the community volunteer to help alongside them. 

Dr Dave Rich, CST Director of Policy said: ‘In some ways nothing is new, Antisemitism is sometimes called the oldest hatred and a lot of the ideas and the hateful stereotypes about Jews have been around for centuries in some cases. 

‘But what’s new in the last couple of years is that it is starting to really affect people’s day-to-day lives. 

‘Antisemitism has always been there but normally at the fringes and most of the time you could ignore it. 

‘But now it feels like as a Jewish person in Britain or anywhere in the world, you can’t ignore it and you can’t escape it, it’s a danger wherever you are. 

‘CST provide and advise on physically security across the Jewish community, that’s at synagogues, at Jewish schools, at Jewish community events, other buildings and that’s been at a very heightened level for the last two years anyway. And after the attack in Manchester it increased more and it will probably increase further again because there is such a heightened threat to Jewish people now. 

‘There are more support from the number of police protecting Jewish communities, extra money from Government to pay for private security guards so that extra support is there, but also its not enough to just do more security more policing. 

‘We need to find ways to turn off the tap of extremism to cut off this supply of hate and that’s about working with police and Government to get better enforcement of the laws, to see what new laws might be helpful, to get more education about Antisemitism and really to demand that institutions across society whether its a University or a hospital trust or a government regulator that they know what Antisemitism is.

‘We need to re-establish this basic standard that anti-Jewish hate will not be acceptable anywhere because it has become far too acceptable in far too many places.’ 

Keren Zion, who works in a bagel shop explained that the community are extremely reliant on the work that CST do.

She said: ‘In London I don’t feel safe, there is a good amount of security in Golders Green but I don’t feel safe here. 

‘Around these areas there is way more security and after what happened in Australia CST have been here every day walking up down and there have been police officers they’re helpful and we have a Whatsapp group so anything that need to be looked at they respond everyday. 

‘The rise of attacks it’s scary nothings every happened here we come to work when you work here you don’t feel it but there’s always that fear that something could happen here and in London as a whole.’

In 2016, the Government formally adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of Antisemitism. 

It states: ‘Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.’ 

Sarah Sackman, MP for Finchley and Golders Green said: ‘I grew up in this pocket of North London. It is an honour to represent a place where Jewish life flourishes amongst a diverse community. Take a walk down Temple Fortune Parade on a Friday morning and you can feel the warmth and respect people have for one another both within the Jewish community and with different faiths and none.

‘But, Antisemitism threatens that way of life. It has threatened to divide communities, it creates higher walls and colder looks. Ambient antisemitism is peppered with flashpoints, moments the community will not forget. But as a proud British Jew, I’ll be damned if antisemites cause us to feel less safe and less welcome in our home.

‘As Jewish tradition teaches, we must fight against injustice ‘if not now, when?’. This has guided my approach to tackling antisemitism. I have fought for better security at synagogues, schools and more recently at Chanukiah lighting ceremonies in the wake of the Bondi and Heaton Park attacks.

‘But local change is not enough. I welcome the Government’s action on the issue. From cracking down on hate preachers and making it easier to expel antisemitic doctors to support for antisemitism training at university and £10 million for the Community Security Trust – the Government understands that at every level support must be stepped up. But we know there’s still a long way to go and I will carry on relaying the concerns from the coal face of the community in places like Golders Green to the highest level of Government.’