Two men have been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life after four ambulances belonging to the Jewish charity Hatzola were deliberately set on fire in Golders Green, north London, in the early hours of Monday. The attacks are being treated as an antisemitic hate crime.
A 47-year-old man was detained by Metropolitan Police in north-west London on Wednesday morning, and a 45-year-old man was arrested in central London. Police searches are underway at the two addresses where the men were taken into custody.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of counter-terrorism policing in London, described the arrests as an important breakthrough but warned that CCTV evidence indicates at least three people were involved. She said the investigation remains active and that officers are continuing efforts to identify and arrest anyone else connected to the incident.
Although the case is not officially being classed as a terrorist incident, counter-terror officers are leading the inquiry. The Met has said it is examining links to an Islamist group with potential ties to Iran. A group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (The Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand) has made an unsubstantiated claim of responsibility and has previously claimed responsibility for similar arson attacks in Europe.
The Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism and helps provide security for Jewish communities in the UK, welcomed the arrests and thanked police for their work, while noting that community concerns will understandably remain. The charity said it will keep security operations at a high level.
Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams set out extra precautionary security steps in the area, including officers deployed to protect certain locations and increased visible armed patrols. He stressed these measures are precautionary rather than a response to a specific new threat.
The government supplied four replacement ambulances to Hatzola, which arrived on Tuesday to restore the charity’s emergency capacity following the arson attacks.