London police arrest two after synagogue targeted in attempted arson attack
By Hira Humayun, CNN
(CNN) — British police have arrested two people in connection with an attempted arson attack at a synagogue in a north London suburb – the latest in a string of suspected antisemitic crimes in recent weeks.
A 46-year-old man and 47-year-old woman were arrested in the town of Watford, northwest of London, on suspicion of “arson endangering life,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
The attempted attack took place in the suburb of Finchley in the early hours of Wednesday.
Police said CCTV footage showed two people dressed in dark clothing and balaclavas entering the grounds of the synagogue, putting two glass bottles next to its windows and throwing a brick at the building.
One of the bottles contained a substance suspected to be petrol, and was smashed by the brick, police said.
Neither bottle ignited and the two people then fled the scene, police said. The building was not damaged and there were no injuries. Later that morning, a synagogue staff member notified police of the incident.
Police said they are treating the incident as an antisemitic hate crime and will increase their presence in the area.
“I hope the swift action by officers today to identify and arrest two people provides some reassurance and demonstrates how seriously we take attacks of this nature,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams.
“We are extremely grateful that nobody was hurt and that our building is also unharmed, but we know that the emotional and psychological impact of today’s events is significant,” read a statement from the Finchley Reform Synagogue on Facebook.
The attack comes just weeks after two men were arrested following a suspected antisemitic arson attack in which several ambulances belonging to a Jewish volunteer rescue group were set ablaze in north London. Last month’s attack unfolded outside a synagogue in a neighborhood home to London’s largest Jewish community in the Golders Green suburb. Three people have been charged in connection with the Golders Green attack.
Williams acknowledged the “significant concern the Jewish community will feel at another incident so soon after the arson attack on four ambulances in Golders Green,” adding that there is no indication that the attacks in Finchley and Golders Green were connected.
A new annual report from Tel Aviv University found that antisemitic attacks in 2025 killed the highest number of Jews in 30 years. Throughout the year, 20 Jews were killed in four separate antisemitic attacks.
The report found that, in New York and the UK, the end of the Gaza war was followed by an increase in antisemitic incidents. In the UK, the total number of antisemitic incidents increased from 3,556 in 2024 to 3,700 one year later.
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CNN’s Oren Liebermann, Jack Guy and Sharon Braithwaite contributed to this report.
