LONDON: London’s Metropolitan Police on Wednesday announced the creation of a special unit to protect Jews following a spate of hate attacks amid growing antisemitism.

The Met said the new “community protection team” will initially comprise 100 extra officers and combine neighbourhood policing with “specialist protection and counter-terrorism capabilities”.

It will provide “a more visible, intelligence-led and coordinated presence foc­­­­used on protecting” London’s Jewish communities, the force said in a statement.

The announcement came the day after police said they were probing the latest arson incident targeting Jews, this time involving a former synagogue in east London. It followed last week’s stabbing of two Jewish men in the Golders Green area of north London, which is home to a large Jewish community.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted mu­­­­­­­r­­der after the incident, which injured the pair.

In March, an arson attack in the same neighbourhood destroyed four ambulances run by the Hatzola Jewish charity, while bottles suspected of containing petrol have been thrown at two synagogues in other separate incidents.

The Met noted in its announcement that it has arrested over 80 people in the past four weeks in response to both antisemitic hate crimes and the string of arson attacks.

Met Commissioner Mark Rowley revealed last week he had been discussing with ministers and officials about creating a 300-strong neighbourhood policing team, including specialist armed officers, for the Jewish community.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2026