LONDON – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Iran against encouraging anti-semitism in Britain, saying the authorities are investigating whether a foreign state was behind some of the recent attacks on the country’s Jewish community.
Mr Starmer issued his warning at a meeting on May 5 with community leaders about the threat of anti-semitism, just after counter-terrorism police said they were investigating an arson incident at a former synagogue in east London.
Britain’s 300,000 Jews have faced a spike in anti-semitic violence since the Oct 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, and concern flared anew last week after the stabbing of two men in North London, which police declared a terrorist incident.
“One of the lines of inquiry is whether a foreign state has been behind some of these incidents,” Mr Starmer said in Downing Street. “Our message to Iran or to any other country that might seek to foment violence, hatred or division in society, is that it will not be tolerated.”
A British man of Somali origins was charged with attempted murder on May 1 for the knife attack. Counter-terrorism police are investigating claims by an online Iranian Islamist group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya that one of their “lone wolves” was responsible.
The government has vowed to change the law so it can designate organisations linked to hostile states, or their proxies, as terrorist organizstions.
The Iranian Embassy in London criticised Mr Starmer’s remarks, saying it “categorically rejects these baseless allegations of anti-semitism.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran requests the government of the United Kingdom to address such sensitive and suspicious incidents in a fair and professional manner, and to strictly refrain from any hasty or politically motivated attribution of such incidents to third parties,” the embassy said in a statement.
“These unfounded accusations are made despite the fact that the British government has thus far failed to respond to any of Iran’s requests for evidence or substantiation in this regard, which itself demonstrates the absence of credible proof and the baseless nature of such allegations.”
The incident followed the torching of four ambulances operated by a Jewish charity in March, also in Golders Green, and an attack on a synagogue in Manchester in October in which two people were killed. The terrorism threat level in Britain was raised last week to severe following the stabbings, meaning an attack is highly likely.
Mr Starmer also said on May 5 that the government will “lift the bar higher when abuses take place” in universities, and make sure they enforce “clear disciplinary consequences for anti-semitism.”
Ministers also plan to introduce stronger powers to shut down charities promoting anti-semitic extremism, prevent hate preachers from entering the country, and look into restrictions on pro-Palestinian marches.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, meanwhile, has announced plans for £25 million (S$43 million) more funding to increase police patrols and security to protect British Jews. However, Mr Starmer warned that “we can’t accept a future where communities feel safer only behind higher walls”.
“We must also deal with the forces that drive this hatred in the first place,” Mr Starmer said. “It begins with ideas, with misinformation, tropes and conspiracy theories, and with attitudes that left unchecked can take root and spread.” BLOOMBERG
