Overview
- The Met has put drones on standby as first responders and shifted armed and plainclothes patrols to synagogues and schools, with hundreds of extra officers and cancelled leave before the holiday.
- The escalation follows an arson attack that burned four Hatzola volunteer ambulances in Golders Green, now under a counter‑terrorism investigation with MI5 support.
- Detectives arrested two men in London in connection with the blaze and later released both on strict bail as the inquiry continues.
- Police leaders report a marked rise in antisemitic hate crime reports since the firebombing, reversing what they said had been a modest recent decline.
- Jewish groups are distributing trauma and chemical‑response kits, funded by a £28.4 million government grant to the Community Security Trust, as residents prepare for Passover.