Under-fire UK boosts security for Jews after latest attack

The UK government on Thursday announced extra money for security patrols outside synagogues and schools, as community leaders accused it of failing to protect them, a day after the latest attack to target the Jewish community.

Two men were knifed in the street in broad daylight in Golders Green in north London on Wednesday.

There have been arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites in the area and a deadly attack in which two people died at a synagogue in Manchester last year.

An extra £25 million ($33 million) would be allocated to fund the new security, interior minister Shabana Mahmood said.

"People have a sense of deep insecurity... and that is why the government is bringing forward investment, an additional £25 million to invest in the security of our Jewish community," Mahmood told Sky News.

"That will pay for more protective security for our Jewish synagogues, schools, places of worship, community centres," she added.

The head of London's Metropolitan Police and a lawmaker belonging to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party were heckled Wednesday on a visit to the area.

Speaking at the scene, they faced shouts of "Shame on you" from a few hecklers.

A 45-year-old man, a British national who was born in Somalia and came to the UK as a child, remains in custody following the stabbings.

The victims -- aged 76 and 34 -- were in a stable condition in hospital.

Rabbi Ben Kurzer, of the Golders Green Synagogue, said the government needed to do more to protect Britain's Jews.

"There is definitely not a significant police presence on a regular basis in these areas," he told BBC Radio.

"We have little bits here and there, but most of the security that we're seeing is private."

- 'Cumulative impact' -

A little-known group believed to be linked to Iran, and which has claimed responsibility for previous arson attacks in London targeting the Jewish community, said one of its "lone wolves" was behind the stabbings, the SITE Intelligence Group reported.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI) -- meaning The Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand -- made the uncorroborated claim in a video posted online, according to SITE.

Mahmood said the government would legislate to deal with "a gap in the law when it comes to organisations that may be linked to hostile states" and their proxies.

The government would be "fast tracking that legislation in the coming weeks", she said.

Kurzer also urged ministers to take action on pro-Palestine marches with "lots of anti-Jewish rhetoric" which he said were fuelling the attacks.

"I think they are hate marchers... We all believe in free speech, but there's obviously a limit to free speech when it's leading to events such as we had yesterday," he said.

Last year the government announced it would give police greater powers to restrict demonstrations.

They were aimed at allowing police to take into account the "cumulative impact" of frequent protests.

Jonathan Hall, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, on Wednesday said it was impossible for such marches not to "incubate" antisemitism.

He described recent attacks on Jews as a "massive national security emergency" and called for a "moratorium" on pro-Palestinian marches.

Monitoring groups have reported a surge in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in Britain, particularly since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.