2 Men Arrested in Attacks on 4 London Jewish Community Ambulances

Two men have been arrested in connection with arson attacks on Jewish community ambulances in London, the Metropolitan Police said on March 25.

Police said the men, aged 47 and 45, were arrested on the morning of March 25 by counterterrorism detectives at addresses in northwest and central London.

Described as British nationals, the pair were arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and were taken to a London police station, where they remained in police custody.

Officers were carrying out searches at the two addresses, police said.

Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, which is leading the investigation, called the arrests an “important breakthrough in the investigation” but said that officers were “mindful that CCTV footage of the incident suggests there were at least three people involved.”

“We fully recognize the local community will still be concerned, and our investigation very much remains active, and we will continue to work to identify and seek to arrest all of those who may have been involved,” she said.

The Metropolitan Police opened an investigation into the suspected anti-Semitic hate crime incident after attacks on ambulances in the Jewish neighborhood of Golders Green.

The police department said in a March 23 statement that it was opening an investigation after four Hatzola ambulances belonging to the Jewish Community Ambulance service were set on fire early that morning.

Hatzola is a volunteer organization that provides free emergency medical response and transportation to those in need in the London communities where it is based.

Police say a blaze was reported on Highfield Road at 1:45 a.m. Nearby houses were evacuated, and roads were closed as a precaution. No injuries were reported.

The London Fire Brigade said in a statement that six fire engines and 40 firefighters had responded, getting the blaze under control by 3:06 a.m.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said earlier this week that the force was investigating whether an Islamist group with possible Iranian state links was behind the arson attack.

Although it has not been classified as a terrorist incident at this stage, counterterrorism officers are now leading the investigation, Scotland Yard said in a statement.

“It is too early for me to attribute last night’s attack in Golders Green to the Iranian state—that is rightly for the counterterrorism investigation to determine—but whoever was responsible, the impact is serious,” Rowley said at the annual dinner of the Community Security Trust, a charity whose mission is to protect British Jews from anti-Semitism and terrorism.

“We believe three suspects were involved, and we are pursuing all lines of inquiry, including an online claim of responsibility by an Islamist group who have claimed other attacks across Europe and have potential Iranian state links.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams, who leads policing in North West London, said that concern in London’s Jewish community remains high and that an “enhanced, bespoke policing plan and activity, which is particularly focused around vulnerable areas right across London, will continue over coming days and weeks.

“This includes specialist officers and capability being deployed alongside local officers to help protect certain locations and will also involve highly visible armed police patrols to serve as a deterrent to anyone seeking to cause our communities harm,” he said.

He stressed that these measures were “precautionary” and “not in response to any specific threat.”

Anti-Jewish Attacks in Europe

Anti-Jewish attacks have taken place in Europe since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28.

On March 14, two people set off an explosion outside a Jewish school in the Dutch capital of Amsterdam.

A day earlier, Dutch police arrested five suspects aged 17 to 19 in connection with an arson attack at a synagogue in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Before that, there was an explosion near a synagogue in Liege, Belgium, on March 9, which Interior Minister Bernard Quintin called “a despicable antisemitic act.”

In the wake of the incidents in Belgium and the Netherlands, Belgian authorities on March 24 deployed soldiers to patrol the streets of Brussels and Antwerp to reinforce security at Jewish community sites.

Victoria Friedman and Evgenia Filaminova contributed to this report.