Briefing his officers in a van in north London, Inspector Thomas Vie warned there was a “real possibility” that a terrorist could target Jewish events in the capital that night.
More than five times the usual number of police officers were on duty on Tuesday to protect thousands of orthodox Jewish families who were celebrating the religious festival of Lag B’Omer, which fell less than a week after two Jewish men were stabbed in a terror attack in Golders Green.
Hours earlier, a former synagogue in Tower Hamlets, east London, was targeted in an arson attack - the latest in a terrifying string of incidents aimed at Jewish Londoners.
Lag B’Omer is marked with parades, bonfires and dancing in Jewish areas across the capital. At one event held at a school in Stamford Hill, which is home to one of Europe’s largest Hasidic communities, the terrorist threat assessment had been increased to “substantial”.
The inspector told his officers that, although there was no specific intelligence of a planned attack, the overall picture suggests that it is likely someone will try and target a Jewish religious festival in the next six months.
“The overall terrorist threat picture suggests that there are nasty people out there who would quite like to attack a Jewish religious festival,” he said, telling officers they were there to deter and disrupt would-be attackers - as well as reassure attendees.
For the first time, men, women and children at the celebration in Egerton Road were being protected by hostile vehicle mitigation barriers to stop a terrorist from ramming into crowds.
Shomrim - a volunteer-led service dedicated to protecting Jewish communities - had also doubled its security operation, with 50 volunteers working at the event.
The Independent was granted special access to Tuesday’s police operation, which is part of major escalation in efforts to defend Jewish communities from a “pandemic” of antisemitism which has left many living in fear.
The Metropolitan Police is dedicating 1000 additional officer shifts each week to protecting areas with large Jewish populations after the national terror threat level was raised to severe in the wake of the Golders Green attack.
Vulnerable Jewish sites such as synagogues and schools are being patrolled “day and night” as counter terror police lead investigations into the spate of arson attacks, some of which have been linked to an Iran-backed group called group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya. Antisemitic hate crimes have also soared to a two-year high, with 140 offences logged last month.
The government is expected to introduce new legislation which would see people convicted of antisemitic attacks orchestrated from Tehran face up to 14 years in prison, according to reports.
Officials have also announced the Met will receive £18million for a dedicated community protection team of 100 extra officers as prime minister Sir Keir Starmer faces calls to stamp out anti-semitism. However the one-off funding falls short of the 300-strong dedicated unit called for by the Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.
Commander James Conway, who is leading the force’s efforts to protect Jewish communities in London, said the cash injection was a “crucial starting point” in responding to the threats, but warned more resources would be needed to sustain the heightened policing levels long-term.
“We can’t set up permanent teams if you don’t have multi-year certainty,” he told The Independent. “That money allows us to start the process with 100 officers. We would like to go further.”
He said Jewish Londoners are being targeted in a “unique confluence of hate crime, hostile state threats and terrorism threats”.
As attacks have intensified, police have significantly stepped up visible patrols and the amount of counter terrorism vehicles protecting vulnerable sites has increased six-fold, with unscheduled patrols taking place round the clock.
Plain clothes officers who are trained to identify suspects carrying out hostile reconnaissance have also been deployed as part of Project Servator, with armed response units also available on call.
“The objective is to make our areas of high Jewish population hostile environments for our adversaries, not hostile environments for Jewish people to live in,” he added.
“We shouldn’t need to be there in the way that we are to protect a community. All communities in London should feel free of anxiety to operate safely and securely. It’s a sad, damning reality that our Jewish community cannot do that at the moment.”
In previous years, the Lag B’Omer celebrations in the grounds of the Yesodey Hatorah School have been managed by members of the local Charedi Jewish community. However this year they engaged in a major planning and security process with police and council in the face of the growing threats.
Organiser Levi Schapiro, founder of the Jewish Community Council, said: “This year, more than any other year, that's a lot more security perimeters in the area, a lot more policing presence to keep the community safe, in light of what we've seen recently happening.”
He said recent attacks had left families feeling “very anxious”. After an hour-long meeting to discuss the security arrangements, he added: “That gave you a good idea of how painful it is that we have to spend so much time and money to try to keep our community safe, just to go about our normal lives to be able to practice our faith, our religion, and that, of course, which is very upsetting.
“We can't let those anti-semite terrorists deter us from our way of life. We will continue. We stay strong. It's difficult, and despite all the challenges as a community, we are united and hopefully continue our way of life here in Britain.”
Malky, 28, a Jewish mother who watched the festivities with her baby in her arms said although the heightened security should make her feel reassured, it is also upsetting.
She told The Independent: “It’s very frightening and we don’t really feel safe. It’s terrifying. There is lots of security and we feel taken care of. But the reason why we have it is scary.”
Miriam, 38, was on the same road where two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green last Wednesday. “I was literally on that road that day, just minutes away,” she added. “I was there that week and my daughter said ‘mummy I am scared to go on that road’. It does make them more anxious.”
Another mother, watching the celebrations with her two-year-old, said she felt “grateful” and reassured” by the ramped up security
“The police can’t prevent a lone person but it’s better than nothing and it’s the best that we can do,” she added.
Shomrim had more than 100 volunteer security personnel working at various Lag B’Omer events in Stamford Hill on Tuesday. Director Shaye Fischer said situation facing the Jewish community is the worst that he can remember.
“We have constantly got to look back behind our shoulders, who's behind us, who's coming,” he said.
”It's a very hard for us, and we are obviously visibly, Orthodox Jewish. We are proud to be Jewish, and we keep strong, but we have to put things in place. We have guards by our synagogues, our schools, nurseries, things that no other community have, and we shouldn't have to be living like that. But this is the reality, unfortunately.”
