King Charles to become patron of major UK Jewish charity

(TIMES OF ISRAEL) Britain’s King Charles III agreed to become the patron of one of the country’s largest Jewish charities a day after a suspected antisemitic arson attack in north London.

The Community Security Trust (CST), which advises Britain’s estimated 280,000 Jews on security matters, said the King had accepted its invitation to be its patron, reflecting the monarch’s “longstanding commitment to promoting tolerance, inclusion and interfaith understanding”.

The patronage was not a direct response to the arson attack and King Charles has a long history of meeting with different faith leaders and promoting interfaith dialogue.

Last year, he visited a synagogue in northern England following a Yom Kippur attack that left two worshippers dead. He said at the time he was “deeply shocked and saddened” and met some of those who had been inside when it took place.

In the early hours of Monday, four ambulances belonging to Jewish organisation Hatzola were set on fire in an attack which UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said was “deeply shocking”. Police are investigating a possible link to Iran.

“Whoever was responsible, the impact is serious,” London police chief Mark Rowley told the CST’s annual dinner on Monday.

The little-known Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI) group claimed responsibility in a video posted on its recently created Telegram channel.

The group, which the SITE monitoring service said was aligned with Iran, has also claimed similar attacks this month in Belgium and in the Netherlands.

Counter-terror police are now leading the inquiry, even though it was not yet determined to be a terror attack.

“Establishing the authenticity and accuracy of this claim will be a priority for the investigation team,” Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams said at the scene.

He added, “CCTV footage appears to show three people in hoods pouring an accelerant onto the vehicles before igniting them and fleeing.”

While the attack did not cause any injuries, it was distressing for the community, which values the Hatzola ambulance service. UK Health Minister Wes Streeting said the government would provide four replacement ambulances.

In Golders Green, many children attend Jewish schools and many restaurants and grocery stores are kosher. Most locals keep the phone number of the Hatzola community ambulance on their fridges.

Many said they were woken up during the night by a loud noise and then saw smoke.

“I’m not surprised that the Jewish community was targeted. It is a continuous ongoing thing,” said Adam Waters, 36, who works for a Jewish community organisation. “I am surprised, though, that they targeted ambulances.”

Yael Gluck, a mother of two, said, “We are scared, terrified,” adding that the Jewish community felt safer during her childhood in the 1980s.

But “antisemitism is too large now. When it is not happening in London, Manchester, it is in Sweden, Austria. We are not safe anywhere in the world,” she said.

Gluck said she was thinking about moving to Israel and no longer went into central London.

“It is not safe for us,” she said.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis vowed on X: “We’re not going to be intimidated by terrorists, and this was a terrorist attack.”

Starmer held a roundtable with Jewish community representatives at 10 Downing Street in the wake of the attack.

The London Fire Brigade said it was alerted to vehicles on fire on Sunday night. Some 40 firefighters called to the scene found that the cylinders stored on the vehicles had exploded, breaking windows in a nearby building.

London mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the attack and said police patrols would be increased in the area.

The Israeli embassy in London, which has long criticised Britain for failing to do more to tackle antisemitism, said the fire-bombings followed years of “hate-filled marches” in support of the Palestinians, along with incitement and intimidation. It called for “decisive action to put an end to this climate of intimidation before it spirals further. Silence and inaction are no longer an option.”