Security stepped up at synagogues after ‘every Jewish person’s worst nightmare’

More police are being deployed to synagogues across the country after the fatal Manchester attack which was described by a rabbi as “every Jewish person’s worst nightmare”.

Sir Keir Starmer said he was “absolutely shocked” by the incident and he confirmed “additional police assets” are being rolled out to synagogues.

The Prime Minister, who is returning early from a summit in Copenhagen following the attack, vowed the Government will “do everything to keep our Jewish community safe”.

He said: “I am on my way back to London. When I arrive, I will chair an emergency Cobra meeting. I’m already able to say that additional police assets are being deployed to synagogues across the country, and we will do everything to keep our Jewish community safe.”

The Community Security Trust (CST) said it is working with police “to ensure security at synagogues, and in the wider Jewish community, is as strong as it can be over the coming days and weeks”.

The organisation urged people not to congregate outside communal premises and said synagogues should keep their doors closed at all times.

The Israeli embassy in London said it was also in contact with the CST and British authorities “to monitor developments, and ensure that the necessary support is provided”.

Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan said police will be stepping up patrols in and around synagogues in the capital, adding that he wanted to reassure Jewish worshippers they will see additional officers in the vicinity of the religious buildings.

A rabbi and head of the Rabbinic Court of Great Britain said fears which had already existed in the Jewish community due to heightened tensions in recent years following the October 7 Hamas attacks and Israel’s military action in Gaza, will now be further increased.

Rabbi Jonathan Romain, emeritus rabbi of Maidenhead Synagogue, told the PA news agency he felt “appalled” by the attack in Manchester.

He said: “This is every Rabbi’s or every Jewish person’s worst nightmare.

“Not only is this a sacred day, the most sacred in the Jewish calendar, but it’s also a time of mass gathering, and the time when the Jewish community, however religious or irreligious, gathers together.”

He said it appears tensions over the war in Gaza had “spilled over” to the UK, despite efforts to stop that happening.

He told PA: “The real tragedy is, of course that the war in Gaza, which is tragic in itself, has sort of spilled over into the United Kingdom.

“For the last two years, we were desperately trying to make sure that whatever was going on in the Middle East was not imported here. This has shown that our worst fears have been realised.

“This will obviously heighten the fears that many Jews have had, that political violence would spill over into religious hatred.”

A Jewish man, among a group of shocked onlookers at the cordon outside the synagogue, told PA: “It is the holiest day of the year and we get this. There is no place for Jews in Britain anymore. It’s over.”

Earlier this year, the CST, which monitors antisemitism in the UK, said Jews were facing “more hatred and pressure” than they have for decades after the organisation recorded more than 3,500 incidents in 2024.

Reports of antisemitism reached a record high in 2023 at 4,296 – the year that saw the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the subsequent military action in the region that has continued since.

A more recent report by the CST showed there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents across the UK in the first half of 2025.

This was the second highest total ever reported to the organisation in the first six months of any year, but it was down by a quarter from the record high of 2,019 incidents recorded between January and June 2024.