The Home Office has announced a £250 million investment over three years to bolster policing in Jewish communities across England and Wales, following a series of violent antisemitic attacks. The funding will deliver more than 500 additional officers to patrol Jewish neighbourhoods, schools, synagogues, and community centres, while also enhancing national counter-terrorism capabilities.
Extra officers in London and Manchester
Approximately 300 of the new officers will be deployed in London, and 80 in Greater Manchester. An additional £43 million will be allocated to police forces in other areas with significant Jewish populations, including Hertfordshire, Essex, Northumbria, Sussex, Thames Valley, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire. The package also continues Project Servator, which uses specialist and plainclothes officers trained to identify suspicious behaviour.
Government response to rising antisemitism
Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated: “The rise in antisemitism we have seen in recent years is a test of our values as a country and tackling it has been central to my leadership from day one. That is why earlier this year I brought together leaders from business, education, health, policing and civil society at Downing Street to drive a coordinated response across every corner of our society. Today’s funding builds on that work – delivering a step-change in protection and policing so Jewish communities can live and celebrate their faith free from fear.”
Community leaders welcome funding
Russell Langer, director of public affairs at the Jewish Leadership Council, commented: “This is an important step in ensuring increased protection for Jewish communities in the UK. Security and policing alone cannot address the fact that anti-Jewish hatred remains at record levels in modern Britain. Ensuring Jewish communities can live openly and without fear requires sustained effort, leadership and action. We will continue to work with government and law enforcement to ensure communities receive the protection they need.”
Karen Newman, vice-president of the Board of Deputies, added: “We warmly welcome the government’s announcement of this major investment in policing to protect the Jewish community, and we are grateful for the commitment and work of all in government, from prime minister Sir Keir Starmer down, to ensure our safety. Protection is one element of the response we called for after the recent wave of antisemitic violence, alongside prosecution of those inciting hatred, and partnership to tackle antisemitic extremism.”
Recent antisemitic incidents
The national terror threat level was raised from substantial to severe in May after a series of attacks. In April, antisemitic hate crimes in London reached their highest level in two years, according to police figures. In March, four ambulances from Hatzola, a volunteer-led service in Golders Green, north London, were set on fire in an arson attack. The following month, two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green in an incident declared a terrorist act. In October last year, two people were killed and three injured in a car ramming and stabbing attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester.
