LONDON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday announced a new support package, including GBP 3 million extra funding, targeted at enhanced protection for the country’s Jewish communities against antisemitic attacks in the wake of the conflict in Israel.
The additional funding will be provided to the Community Security Trust (CST), an organisation established to protect British Jews from antisemitism and related threats which works closely with the police.
The funding will enable the charity to place additional guards at schools and also more security staff outside synagogues during prayers on Friday nights and Saturday mornings.
“This is now the third deadliest terror attack in the world since 1970. The United Kingdom must and will continue to stand in solidarity with Israel,” said Sunak.
“At moments like this, when the Jewish people are under attack in their homeland, Jewish people everywhere can feel less safe. That is why we must do everything in our power to protect Jewish people everywhere in our country. If anything is standing in the way of keeping the Jewish community safe, we will fix it. You have our complete backing,” he said.
The announcement came as CST recorded 139 antisemitic incidents in the last four days, which represents an increase of 400 per cent compared to the same period in 2022. The additional funds brings the total funding for Jewish Community Protection Security grant to GBP 18 million for 2023-24.
It followed a Downing Street meeting of senior ministers, police chiefs and the CST for a discussion on protecting British communities and policing protests, chaired by UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
“Hamas terrorists have carried out barbaric attacks on the people of Israel. They massacred civilians, raped women and kidnapped the most vulnerable. This terrorism is an attack on all of our values,” said Braverman.
“Whenever Israel is attacked, people use legitimate Israeli defensive measures as an excuse to stir up hatred against British Jews. The UK stands unequivocally with Israel. I have been clear with police chiefs in England and Wales that there can be zero tolerance for antisemitism, and that they should act immediately to crackdown on any criminality both in our streets and online,” she said.
The roundtable covered expected protests and marches taking place across the UK this weekend.
“The support that we and the Jewish community are receiving from across government and policing is greatly reassuring and welcome at this difficult and worrying time. We will work with the Home Office to ensure that this extra funding is used in the most effective way to enhance the existing security that is in place and provide the Jewish community with the protection that they need and deserve,” added Mark Gardner, Chief Executive of Community Security Trust.
The roundtable discussed the threat of increased antisemitic attacks and the policing response to provocative protests.
According to Downing Street, Sunak asked police chiefs to ensure a consistent and clear approach is taken to tackling hate crime, policing protests and protecting Jewish communities as he reflected on the distressing scenes we have seen both online and on Britain’s streets in the past week.
He stressed that the police have the government’s total backing in ensuring that any glorification of terrorism is met with the full force of the law. (PTI)
