Overnight in London, four ambulances belonging to a Jewish emergency organization were set on fire outside a synagogue in Golders Green, in what officials and community leaders say appears to be an antisemitic attack.
Security footage shows three masked suspects approaching one of the ambulances shortly after 1:30 a.m. and setting it alight. No arrests have been made.
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Jewish volunteer ambulances, operated by United Hatzalah
(Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images)
After Toronto, Michigan, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Liège, London and Sydney, the only question left is where the next threat will emerge, and which Jewish community will be targeted.
This latest attack joins a growing series of dangerous and escalating incidents across Europe, the United States and Canada, as well as the severe peak in antisemitic violence seen in the attack in Sydney three months ago.
These incidents are unfolding against an active backdrop of antisemitism from both the left and the right. Governments are divided. Some say all the right things, but their actions fall short. In practice, one incident follows another. Other governments barely manage even that level of rhetoric. In the attempted attacks on synagogues in the Netherlands, there was not a single statement from the prime minister.
The right words, but only words
This morning, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and London Mayor Sadiq Khan both responded to the arson attack. Once again, on the surface, all the right words were said. But in reality, the burden of confronting these threats largely remains on community leaders and their own security organizations.
The relationship Israel maintains with Jewish communities in the diaspora is unique and is part of our strength. Anyone who did not understand this before October 7 certainly understands it now.
Over the past five years, I have experienced this mutual concern firsthand as chair of JReady and the Jewish Agency’s Fund for Victims of Terror. Just as we are informed about every rocket strike in Israel, we are continuously updated about every Jewish community that experiences an antisemitic incident.
The Jewish Agency established JReady during the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen communities’ preparedness and resilience in times of crisis. In the years since, and together with the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry over the past two years, since the war began on October 7, we have trained hundreds of leaders and managers in 51 communities worldwide, including those recently affected, to cope with known threats and, unfortunately, risks we still cannot fully anticipate.
The reality is that 80 years after World War II, and despite, or perhaps because of, Israel’s strength and visible resilience, Jewish communities around the world are experiencing loud, practical and dangerous antisemitism.
It increasingly appears that it does not matter which government is in power or from which side of the political spectrum. There will always be a pretext to express hatred toward Jews.
And no, criticism of the Israeli government is not automatically antisemitism. But overt anti-Israel sentiment and the denial of Israel’s right to exist are, unequivocally, antisemitism 2.0. Unfortunately, we are already there.
Meaningful support for communities
Our national mission must remain meaningful support for Jewish communities worldwide. It is deeply moving that 50 immigrants arrived in Israel last week from France and Britain, even as missiles fly overhead. But there will always be Jewish communities whose safety we must safeguard.
Ayelet Nahmias-VerbinSince the current round of war with Iran began, friends and professional partners from around the world have checked on my well-being daily. This morning, I found myself writing to friends in London to check on them, not physically, fortunately, but certainly emotionally.
The greatest and most persistent concern is not only physical harm, but the erosion of personal, familial and communal resilience, and, heaven forbid, a weakening of their connection to Israel.
Beyond Israel’s demand that governments protect Jewish communities, and beyond ongoing efforts to support them through initiatives like JReady, we must understand that this is another existential front.
Even if Jewish communities abroad are not facing missile threats overhead, the evolving reality suggests the danger is nearly as existential. It requires national-level involvement to ensure preparedness and resilience.
It is sometimes hard to believe, but we are reliving the 1930s, certainly in Europe.