Jack Hur stands behind the counter of his kosher food shop in Golders Green, London, and pulls out a Star of David pendant from beneath his sweatshirt, then a small black kippah from his back pocket. He wears them only sometimes, he says, depending on where he is. For Jews in Britain in 2026, visibility has become a calculated risk.
The neighborhood that serves as the heartland of Britain's Jewish community now feels under siege. Synagogues have been firebombed. Jewish ambulances have been torched. This week, two people were stabbed in broad daylight on Golders Green Road. Police arrested and charged a 45-year-old man with attempted murder and classified the incident as a terrorist attack, prompting authorities to raise the national threat level from "substantial" to "severe," indicating an attack is highly likely within six months.
The escalation reflects a broader surge in antisemitism across the country. There were 3,700 reported antisemitic incidents last year, more than double the number in 2022, according to the Community Security Trust, which tracks such data. The spike traces partly to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the subsequent military campaign in Gaza, but recent weeks have brought a new intensity to the threat.
"If you are visibly Jewish, you're not safe," Britain's chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, told the BBC. Mothers in the community now instruct their teenage sons to remove their kippot before boarding public transit. Some Jewish families are no longer dismissing talk of leaving Britain as fantasy. A poll by the Campaign Against Antisemitism found that 61 percent of the community said they had considered emigrating.
On Friday morning in Golders Green, the mood among residents was less fear than fury. Police vehicles moved steadily through the streets. Officers stood stationed outside the local Underground station. But locals expressed skepticism that the security would last. "In a week's time, the police presence will be back to where it was," one man said.
Much of the anger has fixed on Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who faced heckling from a crowd chanting "Keir Starmer, Jew-harmer" when he visited the neighborhood this week. Critics argue he has taken a lenient stance toward near-weekly pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London and elsewhere, which they characterize as "hate marches." Some protesters have displayed antisemitic sentiment and used language conflating hostility toward Israel with hostility toward Jews. The march organizers say they target only the Israeli government, not Jewish communities.
Starmer responded with some of his sharpest remarks yet on the subject, describing the "extreme racism" that had "left a minority community in this country scared, intimidated, wondering if they belong." Yet for many in Golders Green, the statement came too late to restore confidence in the government's commitment to their safety.
The atmosphere on the street revealed deeper fault lines within and around the community. Some residents expressed broad animosity toward Muslims and recent asylum seekers. "We are all refugees," said Ezra Kahn, an 88-year-old local. "But there is a big difference between the refugees we were and the refugees that are coming in by the boatload all the time." Yet mainstream Jewish organizations have pushed back against such sentiment. The Board of Deputies of British Jews says it has "a long track record of standing with Muslim communities in the fight against anti-Muslim hatred," a position echoed by many locals as well.
The visibility of antisemitism itself has shifted. Violent language against Jewish people that was once considered unutterable in British society now surfaces openly on social media. Earlier this week, two Green Party candidates were arrested for posting antisemitic social media content ahead of local elections. On the political right, Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, has faced accusations from more than 30 former schoolmates of regular antisemitism decades ago, including singing songs about gassing Jewish people. Farage has denied the allegations.
Laurence Taylor, assistant commissioner and head of counterterrorism at the Metropolitan Police, acknowledged the shift in threat. "The U.K. has been experiencing a gradual increase in terrorist threats for some time, driven by a rise in both Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorism," he said. "Within that we are seeing an elevated threat to Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions in the UK."
Some recent attacks have been claimed by a group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, or HAYI, which analysts say has links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Whether the group was involved in planning or merely capitalizing on the incidents for publicity remains unclear.
Outside Beth Shmuel Synagogue, two men sit guarding the building in civilian clothes except for their kippot, drinking coffee and smoking. One reflected on the broader implications. "Jewish people will be fine," he said. "We may have to move to a different country, we may get to eat a little less sushi, but it's nothing we haven't done before." He paused, then added, "It's the regular Brits that will suffer in the long term with what's happening to the country."
Author Sarah Mitchell: "What's disturbing is not just the spike in violence, but how openly antisemitic sentiment now moves through British public life, from protest marches to social media to party leadership, without the social friction it once faced."
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