Man arrested over attacks on Jewish community in London

PA Media

Police investigating attacks on the Jewish community in London have arrested a man on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.

The 37-year-old was arrested on Sunday at an address near Barnstaple, Devon, and is being questioned at a police station in London.

The arrest is part of an ongoing counter-terrorism investigation into a series of attacks on the Jewish community in London, with targets including synagogues and ambulances.

The Metropolitan Police said, since an attack on Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green on 23 March, officers had arrested a total of 26 people.

Other incidents have included an ignited container being thrown at a Persian-language media organisation and the discovery of jars of a non-hazardous substance in Kensington Gardens.

The force said that eight people had been charged with arson-related offences and one person convicted of arson.

An Islamist group suspected of having Iranian links - Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia - claimed responsibility for the attack on the ambulances, along with other incidents in the UK and Europe.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previously expressed worry over the use of proxies - groups used by states to carry out criminal acts - by "a number of countries".

He was speaking during a visit to Kenton United Synagogue, which was targeted with a petrol bomb earlier this month.

The Met's counter-terrorism unit is investigating the following incidents:

• 23 March: Four ambulances belonging to Jewish charity Haztola were destroyed in an arson attack in Golders Green
• 15 April: A brick and two bottles thought to contain petrol were thrown at Finchley Reform Synagogue
• 15 April: An ignited container was thrown at the offices of Persian news organisation Volant Media
• 17 April: A bag containing bottles of fluid was lit in the doorway of a building in Hendon formerly occupied by the charity Jewish Futures
• 18 April: Bins were set alight outside a communal block in Barnet
• 19 April: A bottle containing a type of accelerant was thrown through the window of Kenton United Synagogue on Shaftesbury Avenue, Harrow

Sir Ephraim Mirvis, chief rabbi at Kenton United Synagogue, said the Jewish community was filled with anxiety.

He said he had asked the prime minister to "guarantee the normalisation of antisemitism in the UK will stop, and that there will be zero tolerance".

The Community Security Trust (CST), an organisation which provides security for Jewish people, said: "We are grateful to [the police] and the Crown Prosecution Service for their work investigating these appalling attacks."