Early Monday morning, several ambulances belonging to a Jewish volunteer rescue group were set on fire in an anti-Semitic attack outside a synagogue in a district that is home to London’s largest Jewish community.
Residents in the northern suburb of Golders Green were woken up by the sound of loud explosions as flames lit up the night sky and dozens of firefighters rushed to the scene.
“The arson incident is being treated as an anti-Semitic hate crime,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement, adding that some residents had been evacuated as a precaution.
Security camera footage shared with CNN showed three masked individuals approaching a Hatzolah Northwest ambulance and setting it on fire.
The timestamp on the video is 1:36 a.m. Monday, and the marked spot reads “Machzikei Hadath,” matching the name of the synagogue next door.
Police confirmed they were searching for three suspects, but said: “No arrests have been made yet.”
Local resident Charlie Richards told CNN he heard “multiple explosions.” A video taken by Richards showed a large orange explosion and plumes of smoke filling the sky. Police said the explosion appeared to have been caused by a gas canister inside the ambulance.
Shloimi Richman, chairman of Hatzolah Northwest, confirmed to CNN that four of the group’s six ambulances were set on fire, saying they were “intentionally targeted for arson.”
Golders Green is home to many synagogues, schools, and kosher restaurants, and is known for having a large Jewish and Orthodox Jewish community.
“Obviously we’re concerned that this is a direct attack on the Jewish community,” Richman told CNN, adding that the organization had not received any threats prior to the arson attack.
Geder Weinberg and Anita Zadeh, who live around the corner, could smell the smoke from a burning ambulance coming from their living room and were shocked to learn that the Hatzolah organization had been targeted.
“What happened was a horrible, horrible act… Why would this happen to us?” Weinberg told CNN. “We live in scary times.”
“There should be more police patrolling this area because it’s a key area for all Jews[in London],” Zadeh said.
Local councilor Dean Cohen said the attack had shocked Britain’s Jewish community. “There is nothing worse than destroying an ambulance that is there to save lives,” he said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has previously faced criticism for not doing enough to stamp out anti-Semitism in Britain, called the ambulance fire a “very shocking incident of anti-Semitic arson.”
Mr Starmer said anti-Semitism had “no place” in British society, while Justice Minister Sarah Sackman, who also represents Golders Greens people in parliament, said “perpetrators must feel the full force of the law”.
Just under 300,000 people identified as Jewish in England and Wales in 2021, according to the latest census.
Mr Starmer warned Britain must defeat anti-Jewish hatred, which he said was “on the rise again” after two Jewish worshipers were stabbed to death in a car crash outside a Manchester synagogue last year.
The number of anti-Semitic incidents reached a record level in 2024, according to the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that monitors incidents.
Britain’s chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, said the ambulance attack was “a particularly disgusting attack not only on the Jewish community but on the values we share as a society”.
“Our Hatzolah Volunteer Ambulance Squad is an extraordinary service whose sole mission is to protect the lives of Jews and non-Jews alike,” he told X.
Superintendent Sarah Jackson, who commands police in the Golders Green area, acknowledged there would be significant concern in the community.
“We will continue to work with faith leaders to carry out additional patrols in the area and continue to investigate to provide reassurance and visibility,” Jackson said.
Hatzolah, whose name comes from the Hebrew word for ‘save’, is a not-for-profit volunteer organization that responds to thousands of emergencies in north London each year, ranging from minor injuries to life-threatening conditions.
The organization has chapters in Jewish communities around the world and is staffed by volunteer responders who provide high-quality pre-hospital emergency care.
