The Metropolitan Police is setting up a new dedicated Community Protection Team of 100 extra officers to help protect Jewish communities across London after a series of antisemitic attacks, including the stabbing of two men.
The new team brings together neighborhood policing, specialist protection, and counterterrorism capabilities, providing a more visible, intelligence‑led, and coordinated presence across Jewish areas.
The announcement comes as officers confirm more arrests for antisemitism, including detaining a 35-year-old man on Saturday after rocks were thrown at an ambulance belonging to the Jewish community.
Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the new team is an important step in strengthening police response to the sustained threats Jewish communities are facing.
He also welcomed the Government’s £18 million funding to support protective police, which has already paid for thousands of additional officer shifts at a time of exceptional pressure, but said this funding is short-term.
Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley (L) and Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes leave Downing Street following an Action on Antisemitism event on May 05, 2026 in London, England. (credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images)
“We are working with the Government and the Mayor to ensure the approach we are building can be sustained over time, not just for Jewish communities, but as a model that can support other communities across London when facing elevated risk,” he added.
Since late March, there have been a number of high-profile arson attacks, with four Jewish ambulances burned and synagogues targeted. Last week, two Jewish men were also stabbed. Both victims survived the attack.
Crown Prosecution Service to expedite antisemitism cases
Over the past four weeks, police said they had arrested around 50 people for antisemitic hate crimes and charged eight individuals. On top of that, 28 arrests have been made as part of investigations alongside counter terrorism policing for arson and other serious incidents. Overall, this means over 80 arrests have been made.
To provide the necessary infrastructure for these arrests, the Crown Prosecution Service has updated its legal guidance to speed up charging decisions in hate crime cases.
The guidance, issued by Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson, focuses on gathering core evidence so that action can be taken to ensure cases progress swiftly.
Key changes in the guidance include faster charging decisions: where the evidential threshold is met, charging decisions should be made, even if some supporting evidence can be obtained later.
There will also be a sharper focus on core evidence, greater reliance on victim accounts (in appropriate cases, prosecutors can make a charging decision based on a reliable victim’s account), and reduced pre-charge disclosure requirements in hate crime cases.
Stephen Parkinson, Director of Public Prosecutions, deplored the acts of extreme violence and criminal damage against the Jewish community in recent months.
However, he stressed that daily threats or abuse designed to harass and distress Jewish people are also criminal offenses and are contributing to a climate of fear felt by the Jewish community.
“If we allow this behavior to become normalized, then its seriousness will become diminished, and the problem of antisemitism will continue to grow. We must stop it in its tracks,” he said.
“I want to make it clear that if you are threatening or abusive towards someone and you intend to distress or are likely to cause distress, then that is an offense. If your actions are motivated by religious or racial hatred, then additional penalties apply.”
“We welcome this clear and robust guidance from the CPS and hope to see it implemented with real force across the country,” said Dave Rich, Director of Policy at the Community Security Trust. “Anti-Jewish hate crimes are running at far too high a level, and we hope that quicker prosecutions will deter further offenders, and will show the Jewish community that the CPS will act to bring antisemites to justice.”
Separately, The Times reported on Wednesday that perpetrators of antisemitic attacks orchestrated by Tehran will face 14 years in prison even if they do not realize they are acting on behalf of Iranian proxies.
The report said new legislation is set to be introduced during the King’s Speech on May 13 that will give the home secretary the power to designate proxy groups, such as those thought to be behind the recent attacks on the Jewish community, as a foreign intelligence service.
This is in specific reference to the shadowy online group Ashab al-Yamin (Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right), which has claimed 17 attacks on Jewish, Israeli, or Iranian dissident-linked sites since March 9. Of these, seven have been in London, five of which involved arson. The Golders Green attack was the first to be declared a terror incident.
HAYI seems to operate in a form of ‘gig economy’ terrorism, where it recruits petty criminals on social media to carry out acts of terrorism, sabotage, and espionage.
The new 14-year sentence was announced by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, the Senior National Coordinator of Counter Terrorism Policing, on April 19. Evans warned anyone considering getting involved that the UK is considering prosecuting offenses under the National Security Act.
The National Security Act 2023 was enacted to counter threats from foreign states through espionage, cyberattacks, sabotage, and political interference. Right now, prosecutions under that law are quite rare, mainly because it is new. It primarily targets people working with or on behalf of foreign governments.
Under the Act, espionage offenses carry up to life imprisonment; assisting a foreign intelligence service carries up to 14 years in prison; and sabotage offenses carry up to 14 years in prison.
Reuters contributed to this report.