UK police say they have thwarted plot to attack Jewish community

British ​counter-terrorism police said on Tuesday they had arrested two ​people as part of an investigation into ‌a ​suspected terrorist plot to target the Jewish community in northern England.

Police said the two men, aged in their 30s, were arrested in central Manchester on Sunday ‌under counter-terrorism legislation with searches also carried out in Salford and Liverpool. "This has been a long-running proactive investigation which has led to the disruption of what we believe to be a plot to target the Jewish community in ‌the Manchester area," Vicki Evans, Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said in a statement.

She said detectives ‌did not believe that there was any ongoing threat, but police in Manchester said they had stepped up a policing operation during upcoming Jewish High Holy days. The two men were being held in custody in London while further investigations are being carried out.

Almost a year ⁠ago, ​two Jewish worshippers were killed ⁠in an attack on a synagogue in Manchester during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, which was committed by ⁠a British citizen of Syrian descent who had said he was acting for Islamic State. "We are acutely aware this news will ​cause further concern to the Jewish community, as well as the wider public, especially given the significant High ⁠Holy day period," Evans said.

"I want to reassure them we are working incredibly closely with colleagues in Greater Manchester Police and partners ⁠to ensure ​we’re doing everything we can to keep them and the wider public safe." Britain has seen a significant rise in antisemitism since the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023 which triggered the subsequent war in Gaza.

There ⁠was a spate of arson attacks on targets linked to the Jewish community in London earlier this year, ⁠while in April two Jewish ⁠men were stabbed in what police said was a suspected terrorist incident. That led Britain to raise its national terrorism threat level to "severe", with then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying the ‌country's 290,000 Jews ‌were living in fear.