Police release bodycam footage of suspected London Jewish terror attackers

A shadowy group linked to the Iranian regime is claiming it was behind the stabbing attack on two Jewish people in north London on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

A 45-year-old man, who is also accused of trying to stab police officers, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Two men – one in his 70s and one in his 30s – were injured in the attack in Golders Green and are in a stable condition in hospital, police added. No officers were injured.

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Iran links under investigation

Police have declared the attack an act of terrorism as officers study a claim by a group known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, that it was behind the attacks.

Israel's government has described the group, as a recently founded group with suspected links to "an Iranian proxy" that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

An online claim in the same name also took responsibility for Wednesday's stabbing. But security experts say the name may be a flag of convenience rather than a coherent group, and its claims should be treated with caution.

However, the UK has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting Iranian opposition media outlets and the Jewish community.

Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence service says that more than 20 "potentially lethal" Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year ending in October.

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"This has now formally been declared a terrorist incident," London's head of counterterrorism policing, Laurence Taylor, said in a statement. Police are investigating "whether this attack was deliberately targeting the Jewish community in London," he added.

Counterterrorism officers are leading the investigation and working to establish the suspect's nationality, background and any terrorist links, police said.

Police release arrest footage

The Metropolitan Police released footage from the body-worn cameras of the responding officers to today's attack.

It shows the suspect walking towards the officers before the Taser is deployed.

Officers can be heard yelling "drop the knife" repeatedly before the suspect falls to the ground. They continue to repeat the instruction while the suspect is on the ground as they restrain him.

It finishes with the knife being thrown aside and the suspect placed in handcuffs.

'Appalling attack': Starmer

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer described "the antisemitic attack" as utterly "appalling" and thanked the local charity security group Shomrim, Hatzola – a Jewish ambulance service – and the police for responding so quickly.

During the attack, a man was "seen running along Golders Green Road armed with a knife and attempting to stab Jewish members of the public", according to Shomrim, which provides local neighbourhood watch and emergency responses.

Shomrim added that it responded immediately, and that police deployed a Taser once they arrived.

King Charles, who is currently in the US for a historic state visit, has been kept across the situation, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said.

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

"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."

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Large swathes of the road had been cordoned off by police by the time CNN reached the area, and several emergency service vehicles, including an ambulance and police helicopter, were in attendance.

Video circulating on social media appeared to show a man being detained by several police officers as well as two men in plain clothes.

London's Jewish community has been targeted by a wave of antisemitic attacks in the UK capital in recent weeks.

Last month, arsonists set fire to four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity in Golders Green. Four people were subsequently charged by police.

Then, weeks later, a synagogue and the former premises of a Jewish charity, both in north London, were attacked.

No one was injured in the arson incidents, which all happened within a few kilometres of each other.

Starmer joined politicians condemning the attacks saying, "attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain".

"We all need to .. be absolutely clear in our determination to deal with any of these offences, the like of which we've seen too much recently," Starmer added in parliament on Wednesday.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that "London's Jewish community have been the target of a series of shocking antisemitic attacks.

"There must be absolutely no place for antisemitism in society," he said.

Another prominent Jewish organisation – the Board of Deputies of British Jews – said they were working with the police "to understand what has happened and ensure a forceful response".

Britain's Jewish community is long-established but tiny as a percentage of the population, numbering about 300,000.

The north-west London suburb of Golders Green is one of its epicentres, home to kosher restaurants, multiple Jewish schools and several dozen synagogues, as well as large Asian and Middle Eastern communities.

Britain's chief rabbi has said that UK Jews are facing a campaign of violence and intimidation.

The number of antisemitic incidents reported across the UK has soared since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel and the subsequent Gaza war, according to the Community Security Trust. The group recorded 3700 incidents in 2025, up from 1662 in 2022.

In October 2025, an attacker drove his car into people gathered outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur and stabbed one person to death. Another person died during the attack after being inadvertently shot by police.

- Reported with CNN and Associated Press.

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