While the British government has promised to act after a series of anti-Semitic attacks, Prime Minister Keir Starmer was booed on Thursday during his visit to the Golders Green district of London, the day after a new attack which left two people injured.

Published on: 04/30/2026 - 4:20 p.m. Modified on: 04/30/2026 - 5:27 p.m.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was greeted with boos on Thursday April 30 during his visit to the Golders Green district of London, where a new attack took place on Wednesday against the Jewish community, which left two people injured.

Several dozen people gathered in front of the premises of a Jewish community ambulance service and some shouted "Starmer is a coward" and "Keir Starmer, Jew Harmer" ("Keir Starmer is hurting the Jews"), booing the official cars during the departure of the Prime Minister, who did not make a statement on the spot, noted an AFP journalist.

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Keir Starmer, for his part, accused Iran of "wanting to harm British Jews", the day after this new anti-Semitic attack. “We need stronger powers to deal with the malicious threat posed by states like Iran, because we know full well they want to harm British Jews,” the Labor leader said, referring to the upcoming passage of a bill to ban the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Keir Starmer also called for a “swift and visible” police and judicial response after a wave of attacks against the Jewish community, which accuses the government of not doing enough to protect it and fight anti-Semitism.

On Wednesday, two Jewish men were injured in a stabbing attack, described as “terrorist” by police, in the Golders Green area of ​​northwest London.

This attack comes after a series of fires and attempted fires which, since the end of March, have notably targeted synagogues in several neighborhoods in the northwest of the capital.

“Deep feeling of anguish”

These actions did not cause any injuries but had increased the fears of the Jewish community, already acute after an attack which left two dead at the Manchester synagogue in October, in a context of an increase in anti-Semitic acts in the country in recent years.

Recognizing the “deep sense of anguish” within this community, the Prime Minister said he wanted a “rapid and visible” police and judicial response on Thursday during a meeting at Downing Street with security force officials and several ministers.

He was expected at midday in Golders Green, where police chief Mark Rowley and local Labor MP Sarah Sackman were heckled the day before.

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Several dozen people were waiting for him, some displaying a sign saying "Keir Starmer, Jew Harmer" (Starmer hurts Jews), noted an AFP journalist.

“Words are no longer enough, there is a lot of anger,” says one of them, Max Rathford, 53 years old.

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood announced that the government would mobilize an additional 25 million pounds (28.8 million euros) to increase police patrols and security for the Jewish community.

But the government's response to this wave of attacks has come under criticism in recent weeks.

“We don't think enough effort has been made to really eradicate the hatred that has been able to develop in this country,” lamented the rabbi of the Golders Green synagogue, Ben Kurzer, on the BBC.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said that "words of condemnation are no longer enough" and called on the authorities to "take concrete measures", while the Israeli Foreign Ministry ruled that "the British government can no longer claim that the situation is under control".

At the scene of the attack, the leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, accused the authorities of being too "lax" in the face of anti-Semitism, believing that it has been expressed during the numerous pro-Palestinian marches which have taken place in London since October 7, 2023.

The leader of the conservative opposition Kemi Badenoch made the trip on Wednesday, a week before local elections at risk for Keir Starmer.

"Lone Wolves"

The two men injured in Wednesday's attack are aged 34 and 76. Hospitalized, they were in “stable condition” on Wednesday evening, according to police.

A suspect, a 45-year-old British man born in Somalia, was arrested at the scene for attempted murder. Police said he had a “history of serious violence and psychological problems.”

A hitherto little-known group, "Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya" (Hayi), which is believed to be pro-Iran, had claimed responsibility for the fires and attempted fires in London in recent weeks, as well as others elsewhere in Europe.

On Wednesday he praised the Golders Green stabbing and blamed it on his "lone wolves".

Experts question this group, which resembles an empty shell repeating "strategies used in the past by pro-Iran militias in Iraq", according to a report published Thursday by the think tank Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

The Minister of the Interior affirmed that the government was preparing a law to “be able to target organizations acting on behalf of States”.

She confirmed that the government is studying the possibility of classifying the Iranian Revolutionary Guards - the ideological army of the Islamic Republic - as a terrorist organization.

With AFP

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