UK on High Alert After Deadly Manchester Synagogue Terror Attack

The United Kingdom was placed on heightened security alert Friday following a deadly terror attack outside a Manchester synagogue during Yom Kippur, leaving two people dead and three others seriously injured.

The attacker, later identified as UK citizen of Syrian origin Jihad al-Shamie, carried out a car ramming and stabbing spree outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on Thursday. Armed officers shot him dead within seven minutes of the first emergency call after discovering he wore a vest that appeared to contain explosives, though police later confirmed it was non-functional.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed the victims as 53-year-old Adrian Daulby and 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz, both residents of the Crumpsall neighbourhood, home to one of Britain’s largest Jewish communities. Three others remain in hospital in serious condition.

Authorities quickly declared the incident a terrorist attack and announced the arrests of three additional suspects — two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s — on suspicion of “commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.”

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood confirmed on Friday that security had been tightened nationwide, particularly around synagogues.

“We are absolutely on high alert,” she told Sky News. “That is why there has been an increase in police resources, not just here in Manchester, but across the country. Our priority is making sure that our citizens here at home are safe and can go about their business and lead lives that flourish within the Jewish community and beyond.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer left a European summit in Denmark early to chair an emergency response meeting in London, pledging to “do everything in my power” to protect the Jewish community. He was expected to visit Manchester later Friday.

But the attack has also triggered criticism from Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who accused UK authorities of failing to tackle “rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement.”

Protests Condemned

The attack came as tensions in Britain rise over the Israel-Gaza conflict, which has fuelled frequent pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

On Thursday night, a “global movement for Gaza UK” protest went ahead in London, leading to 40 arrests, including six for assaults on police officers. The Metropolitan Police have since urged organisers to delay another planned demonstration in support of the banned Palestine Action group on Saturday, but so far without success.

Mahmood condemned the decision to hold protests so soon after the Manchester attack.

“I was very disappointed to see those protests go ahead last night,” she said. “I think that behaviour is fundamentally un-British. I think it’s dishonourable.” She appealed to organisers and participants to “take a step back” and allow the Jewish community to grieve.

‘Tragic Result of Jew Hatred’

Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, preparing to visit the attack site on Friday, described the assault as the “tragic result of Jew hatred.”

“This is the day we hoped we would never see, but which deep down, we knew would come,” he said on X. “For so long we have witnessed an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred on our streets, on campuses, on social media and elsewhere.”

Many Orthodox Jews only learned of the attack late Thursday, after leaving synagogues at the end of Yom Kippur prayers and fasting, having switched off phones and computers for the holiday.

Alex, a 31-year-old Jewish company director who lives near the synagogue and knew one of the victims, told AFP: “It’s something that you know can happen. Of course, everyone in the community in recent years has experienced some sort of antisemitism… I think the conflict in Israel has definitely exacerbated the feelings of resentment.”

The Manchester attack has been described as one of the worst antisemitic assaults in Europe since October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, sparking the Gaza war.