Thursday, April 30, 2026

04/29 Links Pt1: Two Jews stabbed in Golders Green; These blood libels are endangering Jews; Navy begins intercepting Gaza flotilla; Iran’s Hormuz toll plan falters as Gulf nations side with US

From Ian:

The Golders Green attack was sickeningly predictable
It was only last month that four ambulances, operated by the Jewish Hatzola charity, were set ablaze in Golders Green. One of the more slyly heartbreaking details to emerge from the horror in Golders Green this morning is that Hatzola volunteers treated the stabbing victims at the scene. One of their surviving ambulances spirited one of the bloodied men to hospital. You could not find a grimmer metaphor for the threat to life and limb that is now faced by Britain’s tiny, embattled Jewish community.

It is now impossible to ignore. Back in 2024, were it not for a successful operation by undercover officers from Greater Manchester Police, British Jews would have suffered a massacre on the scale of Bondi Beach. In February this year, two foreign-born ISIS fanatics were locked up for plotting to gun down Jews in Manchester. Porous borders, homegrown Islamic extremism, and leftist useful idiocy have put a target on Jews’ backs.

While the Labour government has offered little more than a tepid bath of thoughts and prayers, the leaders of the ‘anti-racist’ left have basically told Jews to relax. Last week, Green Party leader Zack Polanski, having been asked about the spate of anti-Semitic attacks, said ‘there’s a conversation to be had about whether it’s a perception of unsafety or whether it’s actual unsafety’. Meanwhile, Green local-election candidates continue to be outed as pond-scum Jew haters, calling the recent firebombings ‘false flags’ and openly saying things like, ‘it takes serious effort not to be a tiny bit anti-Semitic’.

How long are Jews supposed to put up with this? Long before October 7, and the carnivals of anti-Semitism posing as ‘pro-Palestine’ demos, they suffered a level of menace no other community would be expected to tolerate. Long before Hamas’s butchers and rapists ploughed into Israel, and Islamists and leftists took to our city centres to celebrate, British Jews made up 0.5 per cent of the population and a quarter of the victims of religious hate crimes. They sent their kids to schools behind high fences, with security guards and routine police patrols. Their elders were suckerpunched in the streets. Their cemeteries were routinely desecrated.

Now the sewers have well and truly burst. This is a national emergency. It requires action, not mere words. If we do not stand with British Jews now, then we can no longer claim to be a civilised nation. Certainly, we cannot claim to be surprised when the next attack rolls around.
Brendan O'Neill: These blood libels are endangering Jews
Truth is not the intention here – demonisation is. You can tell this from the frenzied podcast Jones made to accompany his batshit article. Reading and writing about the ‘indescribably horrific’ crime of Israeli dog-rape was like ‘opening a door to the darkest recesses of Hell’, he says. ‘You will rightly ask yourself’, he says to listeners waiting with lolling tongues for yet further confirmation of Israel’s wickedness, ‘how any human being could possibly imagine these crimes, let alone actually perpetrate them’.

This isn’t journalism. It’s certainly not anti-imperialism. It is nothing I would recognise as ‘progressive’ commentary. It is a medieval morality play, where the mob is invited to marvel and gag over the fathomless depravity of the Jewish State. It is of a piece with Jones’s religious mania over Israel, a nation he says is ‘uniquely murderous’ and in the grip of a ‘genocidal mania’. As for its ‘cheerleaders’, who have succumbed to ‘depravity’, he hopes they will be ‘haunted by the souls of the slaughtered Palestinians… until the end of time’. These are the ramblings of a mind rendered unstable by obsessive, one-eyed loathing for Israel.

The dog-rape tale leaves no doubt – ancient blood libels are being rehashed in the phoney langage of ‘criticism of Israel’. The Jewish people were once accused of lusting after the blood of Christian children – now the Jewish State is accused of intentionally murdering Palestinian children. The Jews were once said to be the secret puppetmasters of politics – now the Jewish nation is said to have the mighty West eating from the palm of its hand. Jews were once branded as agents of Satan, doing his diabolical work on Earth – now they are said to deploy dogs in their genocidal crimes and in the process are ‘opening a door to the darkest recesses of Hell’. Are we seriously expected to believe it is wholly coincidental that all the dangerous shit that was once said about Jews is now said about the Jewish State? Yeah, I’m not buying it. To me, it feels like medieval calumnies are being reanimated on the altar of a deranged loathing for the world’s only Jewish nation.

That Francesca Albanese is spreading the dog-rape story takes the blood-libel crisis to a whole new level. This is a UN official. These are dangerous times. There was a stabbing in Golders Green just today. History tells us that blood libels beget violence. Burnings and pogroms followed the medieval myths about Jews being child-killers and well-poisoners. In the past year, we’ve seen Jews in England be violently attacked and stabbed by people calling them baby-killers. How long before the knife is wielded by monsters calling them rapist dogs, too?
Seth Mandel: Anti-Jewish Anarchy in London
This is merely Iranian opportunism, however. The UK’s longstanding problem with anti-Semitism was waiting to be exploited. The cell seems to be having no trouble finding all these single-use recruits. At their best, the police are simply not up to the task of policing. At their worst—as happened in Birmingham last year—they have essentially colluded with the anti-Semites and fabricated anti-Jewish talking points.

Which is to say that the atmosphere of Jew-hunting in London and Manchester is the fault of those who govern London and Manchester. The ruling Labour Party has demonized the Jewish state and stood with its hands in its pockets as the natural results of that vilification—violence against Jewish Britons—commenced and increased. The Green Party has managed to come back from the electoral fringe by repositioning itself solely as a refuge for the “Gaza left,” a riotously anti-Semitic group of political lowlifes gaining ground in local and municipal elections at an alarming clip thanks to its focus on Jew-baiting.

Iran didn’t make Jew-hatred popular in London and Manchester; it took advantage of it, making it even deadlier. Such anti-Semitism has been on broad display since October 7, and the government of Keir Starmer and David Lammy did nothing but throw occasional fuel on the fire.

Speaking of which: Today’s attacks come while King Charles III is visiting the U.S. The king gave a rousing speech to Congress yesterday and his visit was carefully crafted to buck up the transatlantic alliance. And while the Crown’s diplomatic competence was reassuring to watch, it also highlighted the fact that the United Kingdom has no real head of government. Starmer is prime minister, but he is an unpopular fool with no gravitas and no talent for governing and spectacularly poor judgment. The term “lame duck” does insufficient justice to the contempt Sir Keir’s peers have for him, a contempt Starmer has earned.

The longer Starmer stays in office, the more London and its environs descend into anarchic Jew-purging. His mere presence at 10 Downing is a disgrace, but his exit would be only the beginning of a long process to fix what’s broken.

As for right now: Protect the Jews of Britain, for God’s sake, or enable them to protect themselves.
Seth Mandel: An Apology Would Be Nice, But It Isn’t Enough
When Australian authorities announced they would restrict the routes that pro-Palestinian marches were allowed to follow two months ago, it was because of the impending visit of Israel’s head of state. When UK officials suggested today that they support heavily restricting pro-Palestinian marches, it was because they don’t know how to get “anti-Zionists” to stop constantly trying to murder Jews.

The explanations were slightly different, but the underlying problem was exactly the same: not one of these so-called protests is free of foaming-at-the-mouth pogromniks. Their slogans unambiguously call for violence against Jews anywhere in the world, and violence against Jews almost inevitably follows.

In America, where even anti-Semitic lunatics have free-speech rights, the institutions of democracy—universities, political bodies, etc.—had a responsibility to counter the Hamasniks’ bad speech with good speech. Instead, they ceded the field to Beijing-backed terrorism supporters. Joe Biden said the demonstrators “have a point.” University administrators invited lawlessness, and their faculties went on teaching anti-Jewish conspiracy theories.

The result was that commencement ceremonies had to be canceled or live student speeches had to be removed from the programs, restrictions that will continue at many of this year’s ceremonies. That is, school administrators reached the same conclusion that institutional authorities reached in Britain and in Australia: Every single time so-called anti-Zionist activists are given the floor, they will whip up anti-Jewish bloodlust.

Jonathan Hall, a UK government adviser on anti-Semitism policy, reportedly told Times Radio today after the stabbings in Golders Green: “It pains me to say this, but I think we may have reached a point where we need to have a moratorium on the sorts of marches that have been happening. It’s clearly impossible at the moment for any of these pro-Palestine marches not to incubate within them some sort of anti-Semitic or demonizing language.”


What Britain can do to defend itself and its Jews
I spent the last three days at a counter-extremism conference in a country house hotel. Over breakfast this morning, I remarked to a colleague how strange and rather welcome it was to have a little time to think about the larger questions: resilience, democratic confidence, institutional failure, the slow corrosion of public life.

Three days without being dragged back into the daily business of responding to attacks or outrages felt like an impossible luxury.

My colleague smiled grimly. The conference was not quite over, he said. I should not speak too soon. An hour later, two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green.

There is a certain banality to writing about this now. The correct words come too easily: shock, horror, solidarity, no place for hatred, thanks to the police, Shomrim, Hatzola and CST. All of it is sincere. All of it must be said. Yet there is something indecent about the predictability of it.

Jewish life in Britain now exists under a constant pressure that is difficult to describe without sounding melodramatic. Synagogues hire guards. Schools install gates. Communal events require risk assessments. Then, despite everything, charities and places of worship are attacked. Two Jews were murdered on Yom Kippur. Now two visibly Jewish men have been attacked in the street.

The temptation is to treat each incident separately. That is administratively convenient. It allows every atrocity to be filed away with its own suspect, its own motive, its own investigation. But this is not how extremism works, and it is not how fear is experienced. What we are seeing is not a series of disconnected events, but a pattern that cannot be ignored.
Armed Guards Aren’t the Answer
Here, then, is my crazy idea. Imagine if instead of another influencer campaign or conference about fighting anti-Zionism, we invested in sending our children—at seventh grade or eighth or ninth—to Texas for a week. Imagine that there, in some spacious ranch in Hill Country, these kids spent a week with IDF and U.S. Marine Corps veterans learning the foundations of self-defense. Imagine two or three days of intensive Krav Maga basics. Imagine a day or two of learning to shoot.

What would such an endeavor achieve?

First, it would show our children what we truly value. Just as so many of us spend so much on tutors and tuition to ensure that our sons and our daughters get into the best schools, so, too, we should now invest in something without which that fancy education is worth nothing: a sense of self-worth, mastery, and empowerment. I can’t think of anything better to give a young adult about to enter the moment of massive societal flux that our kids are currently facing.

Second, it would help transform the community from one reliant on bloated and comically inept organizations that fetishize victimhood to one invigorated both by the spirit of service at every level and by the understanding that the true promise of Zionism was never for Jews to be safe—it was for Jews to be free.

Finally, it would also very likely help deliver superior security solutions. Consider the attack, last Yom Kippur, on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester, England: The attacker, Jihad al-Shamie, began his rampage by ramming his vehicle into the security guard outside the shul at 9:30 a.m. It took the police eight precious minutes to arrive on the scene, open fire, and kill al-Shamie, eight minutes during which the best the congregants inside could do was hold the door tightly shut and hope that the demon on the other side did not possess a weapon strong enough to force his way in. What would have happened if he did? And what would have happened if the cops had taken even longer to arrive?

If it becomes widely understood and accepted that most synagogues are filled with frightened, unarmed Jews who outsource their security, the only barrier to a successful attack is getting through that one single—and nowhere near impregnable—layer. If the public perception is that most synagogues are stacked with well-regulated minyans of trained shooters inside, that’s a much less appealing target.

There’s little we can do to keep the barbarians from our gates. But we do have a choice: Retreat into ever more guarded bunkers, cowering behind taller walls and hiring the services of a growing phalanx of guards, or stand tall and alert, vigilant and independent and unsubdued. It’s not very hard to figure out which way lies true freedom.


Stephen Pollard: After Golders Green, I feel anger at a government that has bitterly failed British Jews
Iam beyond feeling scared. Yes, we are anxious, worried, concerned. We know that today’s Golders Green terror attack will not be the last, just as the attack on Heaton Park shul was not the last, just as the firebombing of the Hatzola ambulances will not be the last, just as the arson attacks on synagogues will not be the last. More – worse – is coming, because it always does. When the genie of antisemitism is let out of the bottle, it takes hold and it grows. Always, everywhere.

But those worries are at the back of my mind now. More than those, I am angry. Because every single one of us knows why we are where we now are, and who and what is responsible.

We have a government which has spent two years portraying the Jewish state as uniquely evil in the world and rewarding Hamas for its massacre on October 7, 2023 by recognising a Palestinian state. What did they think would happen to British Jews when they attacked the world’s only Jewish state?

We have authorities which have stood and watched as hate marches have taken over the streets and have allowed pure, unbridled Jew hate to run free. Make no mistake: the hate marches are the single biggest factor behind the escalation in Jew hate, not least because they comprise much of that escalation – and inspire the rest.

And we have politicians as a class whose response to the rise of Jew hate is to mouth the obscene platitude that there is no place for antisemitism on the streets, when every one of these attacks shows that there is a very large place for antisemitism on our streets.

In addition, we have those who are no less directly responsible for the rise in Jew hate, from the early resurgence in the years of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour leadership to its contemporary manifestation through the Green Party.
Nicole Lampert: This isn’t just a crisis for British Jews. It’s a crisis for Britain
How can it be that a young man who pleads guilty to attacking a synagogue is given bail and simply told not to go near synagogues? What message does this send? Just yesterday, outside the Royal Courts of Justice, a Palestine Action fan invoked the words of a Palestinian terrorist Ammar Al-Zaben who was part of a Hamas cell that carried out five suicide bombings, to call for “revolutionaries of the world” to rise up. That’s how bold they are with their dangerous rhetoric. They are laughing at our lax laws.

Last month, on the night of the Hatzolah ambulance attacks, there was a smart dinner for the Community Security Trust (CST) – one of several organisations set up by the Jewish community to protect us because we cannot trust the authorities to do it for us. The keynote speaker was Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. For about 15 minutes, she described something we already knew: that anti-Semitism in this country is now out of control. She reiterated plans to give the CST more money. And that was it. No other ideas. Totally morally bankrupt.

Instead, the job of keeping the Jewish community safe falls to the volunteers who make up the Shomrim “police” force. These are ordinary men and women putting themselves in harm’s way. Our politicians, so eager to appease the powerful extreme element of the Muslim vote, have taken sides. Proscribing the Muslim Brotherhood and the IRGC (a forthcoming ban for the latter was only announced this month), stopping the hate preachers in mosques have long been put on the back burner. They can’t even stop chants to “globalise the intifada”. This is a danger not just to Jews. For too long our country has been too tolerant of the intolerant. Too willing to house the dangerous.

The ugliness, so long in the political sphere, can be seen in its full nakedness in the Greens, where their Jewish leader, Zack Polanski, has unforgivably allowed his own heritage to become a fig leaf for the revolting hatred which is propelling his movement to huge success. Some Green members revel in their conspiracies about “evil Zionists”. It is as Jew-hating as any Nazi.

I say this with some surprise – because I never thought that things could ever get this bad – but this is a crisis not only for Britain’s Jews but for Britain. Hand-wringing can no longer be enough. Surely we can all see this now?
Two stabbed in Golders Green as knife suspect arrested after street attack
Two people were stabbed in Golders Green on Tuesday after a man allegedly ran through the area armed with a knife and attempted to attack members of the public, in the latest incident to raise concern within one of Britain’s largest Jewish communities.

According to Shomrim North West London, the suspect was seen running along Golders Green Road carrying a knife and attempting to stab Jewish passers-by.

The volunteer neighbourhood watch group said its members responded quickly and detained the suspect before Metropolitan Police officers arrived at the scene.

Police are understood to have deployed a taser before arresting the man.

Two victims suffered stab wounds and were treated at the scene by Hatzola emergency responders.

In a statement posted on social media, Shomrim said: “One male was seen running along Golders Green Road armed with a knife and attempting to stab Jewish members of the public.

“Shomrim responded immediately and detained the suspect. Police attended and deployed a taser.

“The male has now been arrested.”
Two men brutally stabbed in a UK terror attack
A terrorist incident has been declared in the UK after two men were stabbed in north London by a man believed to be targeting Jews.

Police arrested a 45-year-old man at the scene after he allegedly attacked the two men, one aged in his 70s, the other in his 30s.

It’s the latest in a series of alleged antisemitic attacks in the city after several arson attacks targeting synagogues.


Communal leaders and Chief Rabbi demand action after Golders Green stabbing
Communal organisations and Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis have issued strong statements in response to the latest stabbing attack in Golders Green.

In a joint statement, the Jewish Leadership Council and Board of Deputies said:“We are sickened by yet another terrorist attack on our community, this time targeting two visibly Jewish men on the streets of London.

“This follows weeks of arson attacks against Jewish premises and comes just seven months after two Jews were murdered in Manchester on Yom Kippur. For many in our community, this feels relentless.

“Our thoughts are with the victims and we pray for their swift recovery. We also thank the police, Shomrim, Hatzola, and CST for their rapid response. We cannot ignore the context: a wave of antisemitic hatred driven by extremists at home and abroad, including Islamist extremism that motivated the Heaton Park attack, and attempts by the Iranian regime to orchestrate violence against British Jews.

“These attacks are not just on the Jewish community, but on our country and its values. They are attacks on the right to live freely, to celebrate one’s identity without fear, and to walk our streets in safety. The government, justice system, and leaders at every level must recognise the seriousness of this moment. We will continue to demand that all relevant authorities respond with the urgency and resolve this challenge requires.

“This hatred cannot be contained with words. It must be confronted, punished, and deterred with the full force of the state. Antisemites are attempting to raise the cost of being Jewish in the UK.

“We must work as a society to ensure the cost of being antisemitic is far higher. Security measures are essential, but they alone are not the answer. The government must deliver on its commitments to tackle sources of antisemitic extremism at home and abroad. We will not allow Jewish life to be forced behind barriers. British Jews will not be intimidated. But we should not face this threat alone. A silent majority offers little reassurance. This is a moment for the whole of society to speak up loudly and stand together against this hatred.”


British imams ‘utterly condemn’ terror stabbing of Jewish Londoners
Several of Britain’s leading imams have come together to “utterly condemn” the terror attack in Golders Green.

The landmark statement is backed by Muslim signatories to the Drumlanrig Accords, which were signed last year between seven Muslim and seven Jewish religious to plot a path forward for the future of relations. This is the first collective statement to emerge from the group since its announcement.

It says: “We note with grave concern the violent attack on two Jewish men in Golders Green, London. We extend our thoughts and solidarity to those injured, their families and the wider Jewish community.

“Any act of violence or intimidation directed at individuals because of their faith or identity is utterly unacceptable. Incidents which create fear within communities, particularly near places of worship or religious gathering, undermine the safety and cohesion of our shared society.

“As Muslim leaders and signatories to the Drumlanrig Accords, we stand firmly against antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of hatred and extremism. We reaffirm our shared commitment to protecting the dignity, safety and religious freedom of every community.”

The Muslim signatories to the Accords last year were: Chief Imam Dr Sayed Razawi (Shia), Senior Imam Qari Asim (Sunni, Barelwi), Imam Sheikh Muhammad Ismail DL (Sunni, Deobandi), Head Imam Dr Sheikh Khalifa Ezzat (Sunni), Naushad Jivraj (President of His Highness the Aga Khan National Council for the UK, represented by Aliya Nasser), His Excellency Kinana Jamaluddin Bhai Sahib (Ismaili, Bohra).

In a sign of the gravity with which the attack is being treated among many Muslim leaders, Shabir Randeree, chair of the newly-formed British Muslim Trust, also released a rare public statement.
Sharren Haskel Restricted video
The attack in Golders Green is the inevitable result of policies that embolden and legitimize Islamist elements. Tolerating unchecked incitement under the guise of ‘political criticism’ directly undermines the safety of the Jewish community and the basic right of visibly Jewish individuals to attend synagogue in their own neighborhood without fear.

The British government must recognize its responsibility to protect Jewish citizens and take firm action against the rising tide of antisemitism, understanding that anti-Israel rhetoric can escalate into physical violence, terror attacks in the streets, and the murder of innocent people.
Golders Green terror stabbing victims named
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis has named the two victims of the suspected terrorist attack in Golders Green as Nachman Moshe ben Chaya Sarah and Moshe Ben Baila.

The two men aged 76 and 34 are said to be in a stable condition in hospital after they were stabbed in Highfield Avenue, Golders Green, north London.

Rabbi Mirvis posted their names on X adding:”Please join me in praying for a swift and complete recovery for the victims of today’s attack.”

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson also said King Charles was deeply concerned about the incident.

He said: “His Majesty is being kept fully informed and is naturally deeply concerned, in particular about the impact for the Jewish community.

“His thoughts and prayers are with the two individuals who were injured and offers his heartfelt gratitude to those who so selflessly rushed to their aid.”

After holding a Cobra meeting Keir Starmer said the Government would deal with “the root causes of extremism and antisemitism” following the attack in Golders Green.

He told broadcasters: “I’ve just held a Cobra meeting, bringing together all the relevant partners, including the Home Secretary, the London Mayor, the Metropolitan (Police) commissioner, to co-ordinate our response and to look at enhanced security.


Shomrim volunteer who helped subdue London attacker: 'I wanted to protect the community'
North West London Shomrim volunteer Yonaton El-Kouby's only thought was protecting the community when he received a report about an incident in the Golders Green neighborhood.

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, El-Kouby recounted how he helped Metropolitan Police officers subdue a man who stabbed two Jewish residents earlier that day.

El-Kouby had been in Hendon at the time when he got the emergency call, but wasn't aware of the stabbings and wounded community members. The Jewish neighborhood watch volunteer raced over to find the suspect being chased by police officers.

El-Kouby said that he pulled up his vehicle to block off the path of the knifeman, forcing him to turn back toward the officers giving chase, and also that he, another volunteer, two officers, and civilian good Samaritans kept the man contained, moving back and advancing on him when they could.

They had to balance stopping him, protecting others, and keeping out of range of the knife. Faced with the attacker, El-Kouby thought to himself that the man was willing to attack anyone in his way.

“He’s got one thing on his mind,” El-Kouby recalled thinking. “He’s here to kill.”

The officers had to taser the 45-year-old attacker multiple times, falling back with each discharge that failed to bring him down. Eventually, the attacker dropped, and the group jumped onto the knifeman.


Met commissioner and MP Sarah Sackman heckled after Golders Green terror attack
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and Finchley and Golders Green MP Sarah Sackman faced heckles and shouts of “shame” from some locals in Golders Green as they spoke to the media after the latest attack.

Courts Minister Sackman confirmed that the Prime Minister has called a Cobra meeting after two Jewish men were stabbed in north London.

Sir Mark, speaking from the scene alongside Sackman, confirmed Wednesday’s incident was being treated as a terrorist one, and said the suspected knifeman had “a history of serious violence and mental health issues.”

Sackman said: “I want to say this to everybody listening – specifically to the British Jewish community – an attack on Britain’s Jews is an attack on Britain itself.

“We cannot tolerate this. I’ve been with the home secretary just now. The prime minister has called a COBRA meeting. It speaks to just how serious this incident is and what we need to see.”

She added: “What happened on the streets of Golders Green today is appalling.”

“An attack on Britain’s Jews is an attack on Britain itself,” she added.

“We need to hear from the moderate majority who want to root this sort of hate out of our communities,” said Sackman.

As Rowley and Sackman made their statements from the cordon at the scene, one bystander shouted “protect the Jewish people” and another shouted “you support the Sharia.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also pledged that the Government will “strain every sinew” to keep Jewish people safe following the suspected terror attack in Golders Green.

Mahmood said she would not “tolerate a situation where our Jewish citizens have to lead smaller lives.”


‘British Jews are under siege’ | spiked reports from Golders Green after anti-Semitic knife attack
Two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green in north London on Wednesday morning. The suspected anti-Semitic terror attack is merely the latest in a long-line of blood-curdling incidents targeting Britain’s Jews, from arson attacks on Hatzola ambulances and synagogues in London to the fatal stabbing attack at Heaton Park in Manchester. spiked went down to Golders Green on the day of the incident to find a community under siege.




Jonathan Sacerdoti: Two Jewish men stabbed in London as wave of anti-Jewish violence continues unabated

Jonathan Sacerdoti: After Golders Green Jew stabbing, BBC muted the mic: here's what they tried to silence about Greens
Jonathan Sacerdoti interviewed on BBC Radio Berkshire, following the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green, London.




UKLFI: Natasha Hausdorff examines English criminal law on antisemitic attacks and conduct encouraging them
In this interview, UKLFI Charitable Trust Legal Director, Natasha Hausdorff, examines the criminal law of England and Wales relevant to recent antisemitic attacks and how this law is applied in practice.

The discussion covers the legal thresholds required for arson, hate crime and terrorist offences and the penalties that may be imposed. It also considers how bail decisions are made and the balance courts must strike between public safety and the presumption of innocence.

The interview further looks at the legal boundaries between protest and criminal conduct, including the use of public order legislation, alongside concerns raised in recent reporting about rising antisemitic incidents and community security.

More broadly, the conversation addresses whether current laws are sufficient or whether the key issue lies in whether and how they are enforced.

This discussion is a legal analysis of publicly reported matters and does not comment on the outcome of any individual case.

Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction: incidents and legal questions
01:13 – What offences apply to attacks on community sites?
03:51 – Arson law and sentencing explained
04:04 – Hate crime vs terrorism: legal thresholds
08:37 – Bail decisions and court considerations
10:07 – Protest vs incitement: where is the line?
12:33 – Public order powers and police response
16:16 – Acting on wider risk: law vs enforcement
18:09 – Bigger picture: gaps in law or enforcement?

Natasha Hausdorff is a barrister at 6 Pump Court Chambers in London and a frequent speaker on International Law. She has a law degree from Oxford University, qualified as a solicitor at Skadden, and subsequently gained an LLM from Tel Aviv University, focussing on public international law and the law of armed conflict. She clerked for Miriam Naor, President of Israel's Supreme Court, and was a fellow at Columbia Law School's National Security programme. Her work explaining legal issues relating to Israel has been recognised by the American Jewish Committee’s award for moral courage and by the honour of lighting one of the torches on Har Herzl to mark Israel’s Independence Day.




Initial Australian inquiry into Bondi Beach shooting calls for counter-terrorism reforms
An interim report into last year's Bondi Beach mass shooting on Thursday advised increased security around Jewish public events and further gun reforms among 14 initial recommendations, but found Australia's legal and regulatory frameworks did not hinder security agencies in preventing or responding to the attack.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government would adopt all the initial recommendations made by the Royal Commission, the nation's most powerful inquiry, into the December 14 shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach, which left 15 dead.

While the report did not propose urgent changes, it outlined recommendations to strengthen Australia's counter-terrorism capabilities, Albanese told reporters.

"This is as the government envisaged, that the first task of the Royal Commission, the priority, was to look at the security elements of these issues," he said.

Five of the recommendations remain classified due to sensitive national security concerns, Albanese added.

The attack at Bondi Beach stunned Australia, a country known for its strict gun laws, and prompted widespread calls for enhanced measures against antisemitism and tighter firearm controls. Authorities have said the alleged perpetrators, a father and son duo, were inspired by the Islamic State militant group. It was the deadliest mass gun attack in the country in three decades.

The Royal Commission was established in January following mounting pressure from Jewish advocacy groups and victims' families, who criticized Albanese's initial hesitation in launching the inquiry.


CENTCOM prepares 'short and powerful' wave of strikes on Iran, Trump to be briefed on plan
US Central Command (CENTCOM) has prepared a plan for a “short and powerful” wave of strikes on Iran, likely including infrastructure targets, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing two anonymous sources.

According to sources, US President Donald Trump will receive a briefing on the new plans from CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper on Thursday.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, is reportedly expected to attend Thursday's briefing as well.

The White House and the US Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Another plan expected to be shared with Trump focuses on taking over part of the Strait of Hormuz to reopen it to commercial shipping, the report added, noting that such an operation may involve ground forces.

Nuclear issues remain negotiation chokepoint
The Iran war, which remains unpopular in the US, has shaken markets and raised oil prices. The war has brought traffic through the ​strait, a chokepoint for about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, close ​to a standstill.

Washington hopes to make Iran more flexible at the negotiating table on nuclear issues, Axios reported.


Iran’s Hormuz toll plan falters as Gulf nations side with US
Iran wants international support to toll the Strait of Hormuz, but Gulf nations were siding with the US against the plan Tuesday as they met to coordinate a response to the crisis.

“During the summit, a number of topics and issues related to regional and international developments were discussed, as well as the coordination of efforts in response to them,” the Saudi Press Agency said of the Gulf powwow, which is being held in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council gathered days after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi flew to Oman to float a potential arrangement that would see the two countries straddling the strait split the waterway, multiple US and regional sources told The Post.

But Oman — which was among the GCC countries Iran targeted with strikes in the first weeks of the war — rejected the Iranian proposal, leaving Tehran in a bind as it attempts to assert sovereignty over the critical oil chokepoint.

“They will forgive, but they will never forget what Iran has done,” a source familiar with mediation efforts told The Post of the Gulf allies.

“They have no interest in paying for Iran’s reconstruction. As a result of all of this, they are not going to allow Iran either control the strait nor toll ships coming through.”


‘Ceasefire on paper’: Conricus warns Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas are using the pause to prepare
Jonathan Conricus, a former international spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, warned that the current ceasefire frameworks surrounding Israel should not be mistaken for a strategic resolution.

“I think both sides, all sides, Iran, Israel, various Gulf countries, the Iranian proxies, Hezbollah, everybody is using this time, militarily speaking, in order to resupply and prepare for what probably inevitably is going to come,” Conricus told The Media Line. He said that renewed fighting could come locally, between Israel and Hezbollah, or more regionally, involving Israel, Iran, and the United States.

Speaking amid continued uncertainty over the ceasefire framework promoted by President Donald Trump, Conricus said Israel and its adversaries are using the pause to rebuild their military capacity. “Gulf states are frantically trying to improve their defensive capabilities, and Israel is replenishing all of the stockpiles, both offensive and defensive ones,” he said. “And I think that the Iranian regime is trying to do the same in order to try to brace themselves for whatever will come.”

Conricus described the diplomatic track with Iran as deeply limited. “The negotiations, they look like two parallel lines that are not going to meet,” he said, arguing that “the maximum that the Iranian regime is willing to address doesn’t meet the very basic minimum that the US is willing to consider.” He added that Iran is not “in a position to be dictating terms,” pointing to its exposure to economic pressure and damage to energy infrastructure.

On Iran’s military position, Conricus was careful not to describe the regime as defeated: “The Iranian regime is down, but it’s definitely not out.” He argued that Iran’s ability “to project force,” manufacture ballistic missiles and drones, and act as “the bully of the region” has been “significantly reduced,” but “not permanently destroyed.”


Blair: ‘Substantial progress’ made in implementing Gaza peace plan
Tony Blair, a founding member of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, told the U.N Security Council on Tuesday that the organization had made “substantial progress” in implementing Washington’s peace plan for the Gaza Strip.

Blair pointed at the formation of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) and the International Stabilization Force (ISF), which he said recently completed its “pre-deployment assessment mission,” as key milestones in implementing Trump’s 20-point peace plan that ended the two-year-long war with the Hamas terrorist organization.

“The critical demilitarization talks with Hamas are continuing, led with immense effort by the mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey together with High Representative [for Gaza Nickolay] Mladenov and representatives of the Board of Peace,” according to the former British prime minister.

Senior Hamas leaders like Khaled Mashaal and Musa Abu Marzouk have rejected key parts of Washington’s peace plan in recent months, including disarmament, despite having agreed to the proposal in October.

The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s “military wing,” earlier this month denounced calls for its disarmament under the ceasefire plan as “extremely dangerous.”

Blair told the Security Council on Tuesday that Hamas, “as presently constituted,” can have no role in administering Gaza. “Not directly running the government of Gaza. Not indirectly by retaining their weapons and therefore their power,” he said.

“Were Hamas to change, to agree that the goal of a Palestinian state should be pursued through political negotiation and that such a state should live in peace with the State of Israel, it would be free to engage with the politics of Gaza as with any other party which accepts these internationally agreed principles,” he said. “But until it does so, it cannot.”

Blair added, “Hamas—and every other armed group in Gaza—should disarm, decommission weapons as part of a Palestinian-led process with monitored and verified implementation.”

Once Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terror organizations agree to disarm, Israeli restrictions on people and goods entering the Strip “should and will be lifted,” vowed the official, calling it “a huge prize for the people of Gaza.”
Sa’ar thanks Trump admin for confirming PA’s ‘pay-for-slay’ policy continues
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Wednesday thanked the Trump administration for its “moral clarity” after a newly published State Department report confirmed that the Palestinian Authority continues to pay “salaries” to jailed terrorists and relatives of slain terrorists.

The P.A. “continues to pay Palestinian terrorists and their families, in violation of the Taylor Force Act” passed by Congress in 2018, Sa’ar tweeted.

The report to Congress, which was obtained and first reported on by the Washington Free Beacon and made public on Tuesday, states that, “according to information publicly released by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar during the reporting period, during calendar year 2025 the P.A. provided $156 million (NIS 488.5 million) in payments and benefits to Palestinian terrorists and their families.”

A reform of the “pay-for-slay” policy announced by P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas in February “fails to end specific payments and benefits for Palestinian terrorists and their families [and] is not compliant with the provisions of the Taylor Force Act,” it adds.

Sa’ar tweeted on Wednesday, “In 2025, the P.A. provided $156 million in ‘Pay-for-Slay.’ This is distorted!” He added, “I call on the international community: stop whitewashing ‘Pay-for-Slay’!”

In a separate statement, the Foreign Ministry accused the P.A. of paying “for murder by the millions.”

"$156 M in payments to terrorists and their families. Terrorists who carried out deadly attacks are rewarded, some receiving $350K+ in salaries plus monthly stipends of $2,541,” the ministry tweeted.

“This is blood money and an incentive for terror. Stop Pay-for-Slay,” it said.
IDF troops find Hezbollah booby trap containing 2,000-pound bomb
The Israel Defense Forces have thwarted a major Hezbollah plot targeting ground troops in Southern Lebanon, uncovering and dismantling a booby-trapped pit containing nearly one ton of explosives, the military said on Wednesday.

The IDF said reserve troops from the 226th Brigade, operating under the 146th Division, uncovered the device during counter-terror operations south of the truce line established under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement with Beirut.

The bomb, weighing approximately 900 kilograms, had been planted in the pit with the intent “to harm troops operating in the area,” added the statement.

In a separate raid, soldiers uncovered a Hezbollah site containing a stockpile of mortar shells and rockets that were intended for attacks on Israelis.

“The IDF will continue to operate with determination against threats to Israeli civilians and IDF troops, and is acting in accordance with directives from the political echelon,” stated the army.

A Defense Ministry civilian contractor was killed and another wounded in a Hezbollah drone strike in Southern Lebanon on Tuesday.

The victim, identified as Amer Hujirat, 44, from the northern Arab city of Shfaram, was operating heavy engineering equipment in the Aitaroun area near Bint Jbeil as part of efforts to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure, military sources said.


Israel sanctions Hamas flotilla crowdfunding campaign
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has imposed sanctions on a crowdfunding campaign organized by Hamas to raise money for the Gaza flotilla to the Gaza Strip, which left Barcelona on April 15.

The imposition of sanctions is a “significant step” in the effort to disrupt the flotilla’s funding sources, the ministry said on Wednesday. It is intended to deter donors from providing funds to Hamas, a terror group.

The sanctions are part of a broader Israeli effort, which includes U.S. involvement, to counter attempts by Hamas and others to destabilize the Gaza Strip, according to the ministry.

“The flotilla violates U.N. Resolution 2803, which stipulates that aid to the Gaza Strip will enter through the accepted official channels, and therefore undermines the Trump administration’s settlement efforts as part of its efforts to achieve regional stability,” the statement continued.

Funds raised for the flotilla are not always transparent or legal, according to the ministry. Recently, members of the flotilla network were arrested in Tunisia on suspicion of money laundering and corruption. Leaders of the organization were detained in a number of other place due to similar suspicions, the statement noted.
Navy begins intercepting Gaza flotilla hundreds of miles from the Strip
The Israeli Navy late Wednesday began intercepting the activist flotilla sailing to the Gaza Strip in a bid to breach Israel’s naval blockade on the Hamas-ruled enclave, according to the activists and security sources.

According to tracking data, the Global Sumud Flotilla — which includes 58 vessels — was located near the Greek Island of Crete, hundreds of nautical miles from Israel, when confronted by Israeli forces.

During past attempts to challenge the naval blockade, the Navy has intercepted the boats much closer to Gaza’s shores, which the flotilla was expected to reach over the weekend.

In footage published by flotilla organizers, an Israeli Navy officer could be heard calling on the activists to change course.

“If you wish to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, you may do so through established and recognized channels. Please change course and return to the port of origin. If you are carrying humanitarian aid, you are invited to proceed to the port of Ashdod,” the officer said.

The Foreign Ministry meanwhile released a video it said showed “condoms and drugs” were found aboard one of the intercepted vessels.


UN-backed data undercuts viral Gaza famine claims as child malnutrition falls
A surge in online claims warning of famine in Gaza is gaining traction across social media and international outlets, but newly surfaced data reviewed by Fox News Digital from the United Nations, the Board of Peace and the Israeli military tells a sharply different story.

The figures were shared at a meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), a forum that coordinates international aid to the Palestinians, by the Board of Peace and described as based on reporting from the U.N.

Children aged 6 to 59 months admitted for acute malnutrition treatment rose from 2,807 cases in January 2025 to a peak of 17,384 in August 2025 before declining steadily to 3,043 in March 2026, an approximately 83% drop, according to the data.

The figures challenge a rapidly spreading narrative that Gaza is facing widespread famine, a claim gaining traction across global media and shaping international pressure on Israel. Gazans carrying food aid airdropped by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates

The dataset also indicates that most remaining cases are now classified as "moderate" or linked to chronic medical and genetic conditions requiring sustained support.

Separate figures presented at the same meeting, collected by the Board of Peace, show a sharp increase in humanitarian aid delivery following the establishment of the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in October 2025. The U.S.-led, multinational hub, located in Israel, is designed to manage post-war Gaza stabilization.

The Civil-Military Coordination Center oversees aid delivery, monitors a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, and coordinates efforts with 60 nations and organizations.

The figures show weekly truck deliveries into Gaza rose from approximately 1,300 to 4,200, while the percentage of trucks diverted en route dropped from roughly 90% to just 1% post-Civil-Military Coordination Center.

The number of people reached with food assistance increased from about 400,000 before the Civil-Military Coordination Center was established to approximately 2.1 million post-coordination center.

And yet, April has seen a spike in messaging alleging "engineered starvation" in Gaza, according to HonestReporting, a U.S.-based pro-Israel media watchdog, with the narrative spreading from Hamas-linked channels to mainstream platforms in a matter of days.


IDF slays top Hamas intelligence operative in northern Gaza strike
The Israel Defense Forces, in an airstrike in northern Gaza on Tuesday, eliminated the head of the operations department in Hamas’s intelligence headquarters, the military said on Wednesday.

Terrorist Iyad Ahmed Abd al-Rahman Shambari took an “active part” in planning the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, according to the IDF.

In addition, Shambari was responsible for compiling Hamas’s “operational situational assessment” of the entire Strip in recent years, it said.

The terrorist was said to have served as a “key figure” tasked with gathering intelligence on Israeli soldiers “in order to direct and execute attack plans.” He posed an immediate threat to troops, the IDF added.

Soldiers remain deployed in the enclave in accordance with the U.S.-brokered Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire agreement “and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” it said.

On Wednesday, IDF soldiers deployed to southern Gaza spotted a Palestinian terrorists crossing the truce-instituted Yellow Line, according to a second military statement.

“Following the identification, the troops eliminated the terrorist in order to remove the threat,” the IDF added.

The current ceasefire went into effect in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 10, 2025, ending the two-year war that began when Hamas, other Palestinian terrorist groups and Gazan “civilians” invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7.




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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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