UK government pledges $34 million to fight antisemitism as London stabbing victim’s mother remembers horrific attack
The British government has pledged up to $34 million to fight what one cabinet member is calling an anti-Semitic emergency facing the UK, a day after two Jewish men were stabbed in broad daylight in a north London bar in what is being investigated as terrorism.
The announcement, made by Homeland Security Minister Dan Jarvis on Times Radio, came a day after Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76, were stabbed in London’s Jewish Golders Green. Both were in stable condition but were still being treated for their injuries Thursday.
The new funding from the national government will be used for more police patrols and security around synagogues, community centers and schools, and the legislation will be “fast-tracked” in the next few weeks, Jarvis said.
“I am treating this as an emergency,” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the BBC News network’s CBS News on Thursday.
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Counter-terrorism officers and the London Metropolitan Police are investigating Wednesday’s stabbing to determine whether it is linked to a string of attacks on synagogues and Jewish sites in the city, including several recent incidents in Golders Green.
The suspect arrested in Wednesday’s knife attack, a 45-year-old man, came to the UK “legally as a child” from Somalia, Mahmood told BBC News on Thursday. He said he could not provide more information as the investigation is ongoing.
London police on Thursday said the suspect had been referred to the government’s anti-extremism program “Prevent,” and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said he had “a history of serious violence and mental health issues.”
The suspect was still in police custody on Thursday, and authorities can detain him for up to 96 hours with a judge’s approval before he can be formally charged or released.
“I’m shocked that these things can happen on the streets of London”
Rand’s mother, a young victim, told BBC News on Thursday that she was “horrified that these things could happen on the streets of London, in an innocent community where we try our best not to harm anyone.”
“Shloime was walking on the street taking care of herself. I was able to see her yesterday. I thank God that she was awake all this time. We hope she will be home before Shabbat,” he said, referring to the Jewish day of rest that begins on Friday evening.
Golders Green has long been the center of Britain’s Jewish community, numbering around 300,000.
The attack came after a series of incidents last month Jewish communities north London were targeted, including an arson attack in the same area he destroyed several ambulances which belonged to the volunteer Jewish medical organization Hatzola.
Stephen Chung / Xinhua via Getty Images 
There were also arson attacks on two synagogues in north London, and suspicious objects were found near the Israeli embassy in the British capital.
Most of the incidents – including Wednesday’s stabbing – have been claimed by this notorious gang Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (Islamic Society of Friends of the Righteous).
The group, which emerged a few years ago, claims to have masterminded a series of recent attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe. A representative of the group told CBS News in March that, “We will continue to threaten the interests of the US and Israel around the world until we have avenged all the children in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, and the opposition nations.”
The government’s independent reviewer of terrorism laws and state threats, Jonathan Hall, told BBC News’ “The World Tonight” on Wednesday that attacks on Jews in Britain are “the biggest national security emergency” since 2017.
“There are Brits, in London especially, Manchester, but almost all over the country, who think they can’t live a normal life,” he said. “And it’s not one attack, it’s multiple attacks.”
October 2025, man A car drove into a group of people outside the synagogue in Manchester on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur and stabbed himself to death.
The Community Security Trust recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents in the United Kingdom in 2025, the second highest number ever reported to the organisation.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, a representative of Britain’s largest Jewish community, said after Wednesday’s attack “it proves that if you appear to be Jewish, you are not safe – and more needs to be done.”
