After successive Governments failed to confront Islamist extremism, when will Jews be safe in Britain?

This crime follows weeks of arson attacks against synagogues, Jewish charities and Jewish-owned businesses, and only seven months after two Jews were murdered on Yom Kippur.

For many of us, this no longer feels like a series of one-off events, but something continuous and inescapable. When will Jews be safe in Britain?

It is important for us to speak with clarity. By the time an individual carries out an attack, it is already too late. The essential question is how we have reached this point.

For years, successive governments have failed to confront and contain Islamist extremism. The threat has festered and grown.

So too has the challenge to British society. Violent, murderous antisemitism is not simply a matter of protecting a vulnerable minority community. It is now a matter of national security, democratic resilience, and social cohesion.

We do not yet know the precise ideology of the attacker. But we do know that an Islamist extremist was responsible for the Manchester attack. We also know that the Iranian regime has been linked to recent attacks, to the extent that its ambassador was summoned by the British government. These facts cannot be ignored.

Our country cannot meet this challenge simply by spending more money on security. The proper protection of our community is, of course, essential. But we cannot build a security barrier around Golders Green, nor accept that Jewish life in Britain must retreat behind permanent walls.

What is missing from the picture is a clear signal that antisemitism carries consequences. We have experienced two and a half years of incitement against Jews, both online and offline, with very little opposition. So long as hateful rhetoric is tolerated, minimised, or normalised, those who espouse it will feel emboldened. Some will inevitably progress from words to violence.

This must now be recognised for what it is: a crisis. It demands a response equal to the scale of the threat, not only from government and law enforcement, but also from wider society. The tools to confront this threat exist, including the recent Government action plan to counter extremism. What is now required is the will to act, decisively.

The Jewish community will not be intimidated. We are resilient, but we should not have to stand alone. A silent majority is no longer enough. This is the moment for British society as a whole to stand up, to show genuine solidarity, and to confront this hatred before it claims more victims.

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Keith Black is the Chair of the Jewish Leadership Council.

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