Two men arrested over suspected terror plot targeting Manchester’s Jewish community

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The men, who are aged in their 30s, were arrested on suspicion of offences under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in Newton Street on Sunday, according to the Metropolitan Police.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said police are aware the news will cause “further concern” to the Jewish community, “especially given the significant High Holy day period”.

It was Yom Kippur from Sunday to Monday, which is widely considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Ms Evans, the senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism policing (CTP), added: “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.”

She reassured the community that police were "doing everything we can to keep them and the wider public safe.“

The Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism in the UK, described the suspected plot as “utterly chilling”.

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They said: “CST has seen the news that the arrests of two men in Manchester on Sunday, shortly before the start of Yom Kippur, was allegedly related to what police believe was a plot to attack the Manchester Jewish community.

“This is utterly chilling, coming so close to the anniversary of the terrorist attack at Heaton Park Synagogue last year, and is another reminder of the serious terrorist threat facing Jewish communities in this current time.

“We have been in close communication with police in Manchester and around the country throughout Yom Kippur, as we are continuously as part of our security operation over the High Holy Days.

“We want to thank the police and other agencies for their work protecting the Jewish community, and British society as a whole, from terrorism.

“We urge the Jewish community to remain calm and alert and to report any suspicious activity to police on 999 and then to CST.”

The arrests were made hours before Yom Kippur began, almost a year after the terror attack at Heaton Park Synagogue in Greater Manchester.

In that incident, Syrian-born British national Jihad al-Shamie drove his car through the synagogue’s gates before attempting to enter the building armed with a large knife.

Two men, Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz, were killed.

Al Shamie, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, was shot dead as he charged at officers with the knife.

Police have not suggested any link between last year’s attack and the two new arrests.

'Horrified'

Hannah Spencer, Green Party MP for Gorton and Denton, said: “I’m horrified to learn of a suspected terrorist plot targeting the Jewish community here in Greater Manchester.

"This is just as Jewish people are celebrating Yom Kippur, which is all the more distressing.

“Less than a year on from the horrors of the Heaton Park synagogue attack and amid rising antisemitism and hate crime, we have to work together and do everything in our collective power to tackle antisemitism.

“Hatred cannot win when we come together.”