Britain will allocate more than £250 million ($335 million) over the next three years to strengthen security for Jewish communities following a series of antisemitic attacks, the British government said on Monday.
The plan includes deploying more than 500 additional police officers across England and Wales, with a focus on Jewish neighborhoods, schools, synagogues and community centers. About 300 officers will be assigned to London and roughly 80 to Greater Manchester. Police forces in seven other areas with large Jewish populations will also receive funding: Hertfordshire, Essex, Sussex, Thames Valley, West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Northumbria.
Funding includes £86 million for London’s Metropolitan Police and £59 million for counter-terrorism policing, with increased patrols during periods of heightened risk aimed at deterring antisemitic incidents.
The package adds to £25 million announced earlier this year after two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green in northwest London, which contributed to raising the national terrorism threat level to “severe.”
“The rise in antisemitism we have seen in recent years is a test of our values as a country and tackling it has been central to my leadership from day one,” outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones said the government was “going further and providing record funding to help keep Jewish people in London safe.”
U.K. Jewish security organization Community Security Trust welcomed the funding announcement.
“This serious increase in policing and government support comes not a moment too soon, because this is a critical time for the future of British Jews,” CST Chief Executive Mark Gardner said. “CST and our many communal partners will keep working with police and government to ensure that these deployments are as effective as possible. We thank everyone who plays their part in the continuing struggle against anti-Jewish racism and terrorism, all of which threatens society as a whole.”
The Board of Deputies of British Jews also welcomed the announcement. The organization’s vice president, Karen Newman, expressed the group’s gratitude to the government for working to ensure the safety of the Jewish community.
“Protection is one element of the response we called for after the recent wave of antisemitic violence, alongside prosecution of those inciting hatred and partnership to tackle antisemitic extremism,” she wrote. “This substantial commitment will make a real difference, not only in making our community safer, but also in tackling a form of extremism that harms our whole society and, we hope, in ensuring Britain is a cohesive and tolerant home for people of all faiths and backgrounds.”
