14 Arrested as Anti-Israel Mob Targets London Synagogue
London police arrested 14 people at a synagogue hosting an Israel property fair as 1,000 protesters demonstrated amid what Jewish leaders condemned as harassment based on false pretenses.
The arrests took place at Edgware United Synagogue in northwest London, which was hosting the property fair, according to New York Post. Among those detained was at least one individual who had come to counter-demonstrate against the anti-Israel protesters.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews strongly condemned the demonstration and had urged authorities to prevent it from proceeding. Police ultimately permitted the protest to continue but took action against individuals allegedly involved in violence or public-order violations.
Adrian Cohen, acting president of the Board of Deputies, expressed alarm at the targeting of a Jewish house of worship. He noted that event organizers had publicly denied claims that properties beyond the Green Line were being marketed at the fair.
Cohen criticized members of parliament and other prominent figures for failing to acknowledge these facts and instead contributing to heightened tensions through what he described as partial and misleading commentary. The protest appeared designed to harass and intimidate Jewish community members based on false pretenses, he stated.
Anti-Israel organizations behind the demonstration, led by the Palestinian Youth Movement according to reports, claimed they were protesting the sale of properties in Judea and Samaria.
Pattern of Synagogue Targeting
The incident follows a similar episode last year when London authorities moved an anti-Israel rally away from St. John’s Wood Synagogue in central London, though demonstrators regrouped nearby to continue their activities.
Rising Antisemitism Crisis
The demonstration occurs against a backdrop of escalating antisemitism across Britain. Last week, the Campaign Against Antisemitism declared the situation a national emergency after data revealed 255 antisemitic incidents in May alone, compared to 148 in April.
The Community Security Trust recorded an average of 308 antisemitic incidents per month in Britain during 2025.
The United Kingdom has recorded the highest per-capita rate of physical antisemitic assaults among nations with substantial Jewish populations in 2025, according to findings from Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism. The ministry documented 121 assaults against a Jewish population of roughly 300,000.
Overall antisemitic incidents in the United Kingdom, encompassing threats, vandalism, and intimidation, reached 3,700 in 2025, the Community Security Trust reported. This represented a 4 percent increase from 3,556 incidents in 2024, though it remained 14 percent below the record total of 4,298 incidents documented in 2023.
With information from New York Post
