Jewish Volunteer Ambulance Service Targeted in Antisemitic Attack After Saving Infant's Life
A volunteer Jewish ambulance service that saved a one-week-old baby's life last December has been targeted in what community leaders are calling an abhorrent antisemitic attack in north London. The Hatzola service, which provides free emergency care and transport for Jewish communities, had four of its ambulances firebombed outside a synagogue in Golders Green in the early hours of Monday morning.
Life-Saving Response to Medical Emergency
The attack comes less than four months after Hatzola volunteers saved the life of newborn Aliza Glass when she stopped breathing and began choking while visiting her grandparents in Mill Hill. Her parents, Yossi and Esti Glass, described the terrifying moment their daughter's face turned blue as she foamed at the mouth on December 12.
'She started to choke on it and foam at the mouth. Her face went blue. She was unable to breathe,' Esti Glass recalled of the incident that prompted desperate mouth-to-mouth resuscitation attempts by Rabbi Schochet while emergency services were called.
The first Hatzola responder arrived within just five minutes of the emergency call, providing critical rescue breaths before transporting Aliza to a north London hospital in an ambulance that had recently been added to the charity's fleet through synagogue fundraising efforts.
Community Outrage Over Targeted Attack
The firebombing attack, which occurred around 1:40am and involved three hooded suspects using accelerants to ignite the vehicles, has been condemned as 'particularly sickening' by faith leaders and community members. The attack damaged the adjacent synagogue on Highfield Road, shattering stained-glass windows in what synagogue president Damon Hoff described as 'an attack on the Jewish way of life.'
'To target ambulances is a war on humanity itself,' said Rabbi Schochet, whose synagogue had helped fundraise for the very ambulance that saved baby Aliza. 'The Hatzola service is the most outstanding service in Jewish communities around the world. This attack is what happens when antisemitism is tolerated or excused.'
Esti Glass, whose daughter's life was saved by the service, expressed her devastation at the attack: 'Hatzola volunteers saved my daughter's life. They are angels. [The attack] is a complete tragedy. I do not understand it. There are some really nasty people in the world.'
Rapid Community Response and Support
Despite the attack, the Jewish community has demonstrated remarkable resilience, with more than half a million pounds donated to Hatzola Northwest in the hours following the incident. Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced that the London Ambulance Service would provide four temporary ambulances to the charity while the government works to fund permanent replacements for the destroyed vehicles.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis called the targeting of Hatzola 'a most painful illustration of the ongoing battle between those who sanctify life and those who seek to destroy it,' adding that Jewish communities would 'stand together against hatred and intimidation.'
The Prime Minister described the attack as 'deeply shocking,' emphasizing that antisemitism has 'no place in our society.' Metropolitan Police are treating the fire as an antisemitic hate crime, with three suspects remaining at large following the incident that community members say has created an environment where Jewish people feel unsafe.
'We will not be intimidated as a Jewish community,' Rabbi Schochet stated. 'But we should not have to be resilient. We should be protected. Enough is enough.'
