In northwest London, British authorities have detained two teenagers in relation to an arson attack targeting a synagogue over the weekend. This incident has heightened concerns among Jewish leaders regarding an uptick in attacks on their community.
Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes of the Metropolitan Police Service in London announced on Monday that a 19-year-old and a 17-year-old were apprehended during the night, suspected of involvement in the attack on the Kenton United Synagogue located in Harrow.
Jukes further revealed that the police department has conducted 15 arrests connected to a series of six assaults on Jewish sites, as well as on a Persian-language media outlet known for its criticism of the Iranian government. These incidents have unfolded over the past several weeks, he mentioned in a BBC interview.
One significant line of investigation suggests that the Iranian government might be enlisting local criminals to execute these attacks amidst rising Middle Eastern tensions, including the ongoing conflict involving the US and Israel against the Islamic Republic, Jukes noted.
“We have observed a pattern where certain actors employ mercenaries, individuals accepting cash for what appears to be easy money,” Jukes explained. “This reflects the modern form of hybrid warfare conducted through proxies.”
The latest attack involved a bottle filled with a flammable substance being hurled through a window of the Harrow synagogue on Saturday night, resulting in smoke damage, according to police reports.
Counterterrorism police are investigating the series of incidents, which began on March 23 when an arson attack destroyed four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity that serves people of all faiths in north London.
Police on Friday closed Kensington Gardens, a central London park visited by thousands of tourists and local residents every day, after a group that Israel has linked to Iran posted a video claiming Israel’s nearby London embassy was going to be attacked with drones carrying dangerous substances.
Police said the embassy was not attacked, but the force shut the park as officers examined discarded items including two jars containing powder. Police said nothing harmful was found.
No one has been injured in the incidents.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said on Sunday that “a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum.”
“Thank God, no lives have been lost, but we cannot, and must not, wait for that to change before we understand just how dangerous this moment is for all of our society,” he said on X.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans on Sunday said police are aware that a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia had claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in Britain.
The same group has claimed responsibility for incidents in recent months at places of worship, business and financial institutions across Europe, all of which appear to be linked to Jewish or Israeli interests, she said.
Israel’s government has described Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy.”
“I want to be clear, irrespective of the motivation of this group, to those facilitating on their behalf and those committing the acts – we will not tolerate activity which seeks to intimidate or frighten our communities. You will not succeed in creating division and hate,” Evans said.
The UK has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting opposition media outlets and the Jewish community. Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service says that more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year to October.
