Two teenagers have been arrested after a London synagogue was ‘firebombed’ in the latest attack on the Jewish community.
Matt Jukes, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said a 17-year-old boy and 19-year-old man had been arrested in connection with the arson attack at Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow, north-west London, over the weekend.
It comes after the Met confirmed a ‘bottle with some sort of accelerant had been thrown through the window’ at midnight on Sunday and smoke was seen inside a room.
Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, Mr Jukes said said: ‘I’m really pleased to say that overnight, we have news of two arrests in relation to that incident.’
He added: ‘We’ve made over the last weeks, 15 arrests in relation to a series of six incidents that have targeted Jewish premises, the Jewish-led ambulance service and a Persian media organisation.’
The Kenton United Synagogue, which is close to a school and children’s playground, was under a large police cordon on Sunday as detectives investigated the latest attack.
Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the UK’s Chief Rabbi, described the attack as ‘cowardly’ and said ‘a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum’.
Counter-terror police are probing whether Iranian proxies are behind a spate of arson attacks against London synagogues.
Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia – the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right – claimed responsibility for the Kenton ‘firebomb’ attack. The pro-Iran group, also known as Hayi, released video footage of a man walking up to the building with what appears to be petrol bomb and hurling it at the site.
On Sunday, Yehuda Black, the synagogue’s rabbi, said the item was thrown into the medical room. The attack caused ‘minor smoke damage’ and there was ‘no significant structural damage’ to the synagogue.
It came a day after an arson attack at a building that used to house a Jewish charity in Hendon, north-west London, which is also being investigated as an antisemitic hate crime. A man lit a plastic bag at the entrance before fleeing.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the Met Police have ‘stepped up resources in the area’.
‘There is no place for antisemitism in our city, and the perpetrators of these despicable attacks will face the full force of the law,’ he wrote in a post on X. ‘London will always stand united against those seeking to divide us.’
On Friday, suspicious items – including two jars containing powder – were found near the Israeli embassy, forcing Kensington Gardens to be shut while detectives investigated.
Police said the embassy was not attacked but officers are investigating whether the items were linked to a video posted by an Iran-linked Islamist group which claimed to have targeted the building with drones carrying radioactive substances.
It follows a spate of other attacks over the last few weeks, including four ambulances run by a Jewish charity being burned down in Golders Green, north London, last month. Four people have been charged.
Two others were also arrested this week after bottles of petrol were launched at a synagogue in Finchley, north-west London.
A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘It betrays a cataclysmic failure of the state – politicians, police chiefs and prosecutors – to tackle anti-Semitic extremism in this country, which has gone largely unchecked for two and a half years. Britain is fundamentally a different country now.’
The Met Police has said it is investigating the ‘Iranian regime’s routine uses of criminal proxies’ where Jewish sites have been targeted in the capital.
In a statement on Sunday, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said: ‘We are aware of public reporting that this group may have links to Iran.
‘As you would expect we will explore the question of motivation and direction as our investigations continue.
‘I have spoken at length of the Iranian regime’s routine uses of criminal proxies.
‘We are considering whether this tactic is being used here in London – recruiting violence as a service.’
She said individuals carrying out these crimes often have no allegiance to the cause and are ‘taking quick cash for their crimes’, adding that those involved will be prosecuted.
This includes for offences under the National Security Act, which comes with a significant sentence and lifetime restrictions.
Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes said the Met has ‘seen other cases of thugs for hire who commit criminal acts and intimation on behalf of others’, adding that the force is facing a ‘concerted campaign’ targeting British Jews in London.
Sir Keir Starmer described the attack as ‘abhorrent’, saying: ‘I am appalled by recent attempted antisemitic arson attacks in north London. This is abhorrent and it will not be tolerated.
‘Attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain. We are increasing visible policing and those responsible will be found and brought to justice. We will not rest in the pursuit of perpetrators.’
A Met Police spokesperson previously said: ‘At around midnight on Sunday, 19 April officers on deterrence and reassurance patrols following a series of incidents in north west London noticed damage to a window of the Kenton United Synagogue in Shaftesbury Avenue, Harrow.
‘On further inspection they saw smoke inside a room and evidence that a bottle with some sort of accelerant had been thrown through the window.
‘The London Fire Brigade was called and firefighters searched the building to confirm that there was no further fire risk.
‘The incident is being treated as arson and an investigation is underway led by Counter Terrorism Policing London, supported by local officers.’
