Grace Gilson
Two men were arrested in London on Wednesday in connection with an arson attack days earlier that destroyed four ambulances owned by Hatzola, a Jewish volunteer emergency service.
A 47-year-old man was arrested in northwest London and a 45-year-old man in central London, according to the Metropolitan Police. Both are suspected of arson with intent to endanger life, which has a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and remained in custody on Wednesday as officers searched their homes.
The four Hatzola ambulances were set ablaze early Monday morning in Golders Green, a heavily Jewish neighborhood in London, spurring increased patrols in Jewish communities and outcry from British leaders.
“We know that community concerns remain heightened and I want to reassure the community 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,” Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams said in a statement.
The investigation into the attack has been led by the Counter-Terrorism Unit, though the incident is being treated by police as an antisemitic hate crime. A group previously unknown to investigators, calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, has claimed responsibility for the attack as well as several others throughout Europe in recent weeks, spurring conjecture that the attacks are either directed by Iran or Iran-aligned groups. Those links haven’t been established.
Commander Helen Flanagan, the head of the counterterrorism policing unit, said in a statement that police were “mindful” that surveillance footage of the incident suggested that “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,” Flanagan said.
The Community Security Trust, a British Jewish security nonprofit and antisemitism watchdog, welcomed the arrests in a post on X.
“While this development is an important step forward, we know the community will understandably remain concerned,” the post read. “Police security measures and CST’s own security operations will therefore remain at their current high level, with continued strong cooperation between CST and the police to protect our community.”
