Jewish volunteer ambulances set on fire outside London synagogue in antisemitic attack

By Laila Shahrokhshahi, Clare Sebastian, Laura Sharman, Teele Rebane, Lex Harvey, CNN

(CNN) — Several ambulances belonging to a Jewish volunteer rescue organization were set on fire outside a synagogue in a neighborhood home to London’s largest Jewish community early on Monday, in an antisemitic attack.

Flames lit up the night sky and residents of the northern suburb of Golders Green were woken by loud explosions, as dozens of firefighters rushed to the area.

“The arson attack is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime,” London’s Met Police said in a statement, adding that some residents had been evacuated as a precaution.

Security camera footage shared with CNN showed three masked people approach an ambulance belonging to the Hatzola Northwest organization and set it on fire.

The timestamp on the video reads 1:36 a.m Monday and the location marked reads Machzikei Hadath, which matches the name of the adjacent synagogue.

Police confirmed they are looking for three suspects but said there “have been no arrests yet.”

Local resident Charlie Richards told CNN she heard “multiple explosions.” Video filmed by Richards showed a large orange explosion and smoke emanating into the sky. The explosions were thought to be due to gas canisters on board the ambulances, police said.

Hatzola Northwest Chairman Shloimie Richman confirmed to CNN that four of the organization’s six ambulances had been set alight, saying they were “deliberately targeted in an arson attack.”

Golders Green is home to many synagogues, schools and kosher restaurants and is known for its large Jewish and Orthodox Jewish community.

“Obviously we have concerns that this is a direct attack on the Jewish community,” Richman told CNN, adding that the organization had not received any threats before the arson attacks.

Gedale Weinberg and Anita Zadeh, who live just around the corner, could smell the smoke from the burning ambulances from their living room and were shocked to discover the Hatzola organization had been targeted.

“It’s a terrible, terrible act what happened… Why is it happening to us?” Weinberg told CNN. “We’re living in scary times.”

“There should be more police going around because this area here is the main area for all the Jews (in London),” said Zadeh.

Local councillor Dean Cohen said the attack had sent shockwaves through Britain’s Jewish community. “You cannot get more low than destroying ambulances that are there to save lives,” he said.

Rise of antisemitism in Britain

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has previously faced criticism for not doing enough to stamp out antisemitism in Britain, called the ambulance fires a “deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack.”

Starmer said antisemitism has “no place” in British society, while his Justice Minister Sarah Sackman –– who also represents the people of Golders Greens in Parliament –– said the “perpetrators must feel the full force of the law.”

Just under 300,000 people identified as Jewish in England and Wales in 2021, during the most recent census.

Last year, Starmer warned that hatred against Jews was “rising once again” and that Britain must defeat it, after two Jewish worshipers were killed in a car ramming and stabbing attack outside a Manchester synagogue.

The number of antisemitic incidents reached record levels in 2024, according to Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that monitors incidents.

Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis called the ambulance attacks “a particularly sickening assault –– not only on the Jewish community, but on the values we share as a society.”

“Our Hatzola volunteer ambulance corps is an extraordinary service, whose sole mission is to protect life, Jewish and non-Jewish alike,” he said on X.

Superintendent Sarah Jackson, who leads policing in the Golders Green area, acknowleged there would be a great deal of concern in the community.

“We will be engaging with faith leaders and carrying out additional patrols in the local area as we continue our investigation to provide reassurance and a highly visible presence,” said Jackson.

Hatzola, which derives its name from the Hebrew word for save, is a non-profit volunteer organization that responds to thousands of emergencies each year in North London, from minor injuries to life-threatening conditions.

The organization has chapters in Jewish communities around the world, manned by volunteer responders who provide high quality pre-hospital emergency care

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Ross Adkin, Lucas Lilieholm, Todd Symons & Ivana Kottasová contributed reporting