The Home Office has announced more than £250m in funding over the next three years to increase policing in Jewish communities following a spate of violent attacks. The investment will deliver over 500 additional officers across England and Wales, deployed in Jewish neighbourhoods, around schools, synagogues, and community centres, while also strengthening national counter-terrorism capabilities.
Details of the Funding Allocation
The funding will cover approximately 300 additional officers in London and 80 in Greater Manchester. Another £43m will be distributed to police forces serving other areas with significant Jewish populations, including Hertfordshire, Essex, Northumbria, Sussex, Thames Valley, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire. Greater Manchester Police will receive over £22m specifically to sustain increased presence after the terrorist attack at a synagogue in Heaton Park last October.
The package also continues Project Servator, which deploys specialist and plainclothes officers trained to identify suspicious behaviour.
Government and Community Responses
Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “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.”
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.”
Context of Recent Antisemitic Attacks
The national terror threat level was raised from substantial to severe in May after a series of attacks. In April, the number of antisemitic hate crimes recorded in London was the highest in two years, according to police figures. In March, four ambulances from Hatzola, a volunteer-led service operating in the Golders Green area of 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 attack. Last October, two people were killed and three injured after a car ramming and stabbing outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester.
