London — Tensions ran high in Golders Green on Thursday as Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced jeers and insults during a visit the day after two Jewish men were wounded in a knife attack police have described as an antisemitic terrorist incident.
As Starmer arrived to meet emergency responders, some local residents booed and shouted words including “traitor” and “coward.” The stabbing follows a string of recent attacks and attempted arson at synagogues and other Jewish sites that have left the neighbourhood alarmed and angry.
An Orthodox Jewish resident who asked not to be named told reporters the community is living in constant fear. “It’s utter horror,” they said. “We have to live in fear — constantly looking behind our backs, wondering if someone might attack us with a knife … and even if we leave, where do we go?”
Volunteers and local security teams were among the first at the scene. Ben Grossnass, a Shomrim volunteer, said the community is “in shock, understandably,” pointing to a recent rise in antisemitic incidents and arson attempts.
Police later charged a 45-year-old man with two counts of attempted murder in connection with the double stabbing. In response to a perceived rise in threat, the government raised the national terrorism threat level from “substantial” to “severe,” citing increased risks from Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorism.
Local activists said the attack was neither unexpected nor isolated. Dov Forman, a 22-year-old Golders Green author and campaigner whose great-grandmother Lily Ebert survived Auschwitz, said the community feared this escalation. “No one here is shocked or surprised that this has happened,” he said. “We all knew after previous attacks that this was not a question of if there would be another attack, but simply when.”
The government announced an extra £28 million (about $34 million) aimed at tackling antisemitism, funding more police patrols and bolstering security at synagogues, schools and community centres. Critics, however, say public and political tolerance of inflammatory rhetoric has allowed antisemitic sentiment to spread.
Forman and other residents pointed to some pro-Palestinian demonstrations where chants such as “globalize the intifada” have been heard, saying such slogans have been permitted for too long and can inspire violence. “People are listening to those calls, taking them seriously, and acting on them — not just attacking Jewish people, but Jewish institutions, too,” he said.
In December, the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police said they would take an “enhanced approach” to counter antisemitism, warning they would arrest protesters who use slogans or phrases that can incite violence.
Many Golders Green residents urged the wider public to speak up. “This is not just an attack on the Jewish community — this is an attack on Britain,” Forman said, calling on the “silent majority” to stand up before it is too late. Others warned that smaller incidents had been building for months and demanded quicker, stronger government action.
The stabbing has intensified anxiety across the neighbourhood. “People are going out to eat, sitting in restaurants, and now they’re looking over their shoulders,” one resident said. “Before today, I felt relatively safe. After today, I’m not so sure.”
Starmer condemned the attack as “utterly appalling,” vowed that those responsible would be brought to justice and thanked community organisations for their response. Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch also urged a tough response, saying ideological drivers, including Islamist extremism, must be confronted and that the threat of antisemitism should be treated as a national emergency.