Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has accused London’s Metropolitan Police of failing to protect Jewish communities amid a series of anti-Israel protests triggered by the October 7 massacre in Israel, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

Rabbi Mirvis pointed to the Met’s decision to approve a planned demonstration on Shabbos, January 18, near two shuls, despite “months of conversations” urging the police to ensure protesters would not encroach on shuls on Shabbos.

“There can be no justification for not making a clear commitment that the routes of pro-Palestinian marches will not come anywhere close to local synagogues,” Rabbi Mirvis told The Times. “It is hard to see the absence of such a commitment as anything other than a failure of the Met’s duty to members of Jewish communities who no longer feel safe walking to and from their synagogues on the Sabbath.”

Rabbi Daniel Epstein of Western Marble Arch, one of the shuls adjacent to the protest route, told Jewish News that despite multiple discussions with the Metropolitan Police, “nothing seems to have changed.” He added that the Jewish community does not oppose freedom of speech but fears potential targeting of mispalelim on Shabbos.

Mark Gardner, chief executive of the Community Security Trust (CST), echoed these sentiments, calling for demonstrations to be kept away from shuls—especially during Shabbos tefillos. “Their chutzpah is unmatched, exploiting freedoms that they deny to others,” Gardner said, referencing slogans used by protesters, such as “River to the Sea” and “Global Intifada.”

The Met has faced repeated criticism in recent weeks for their laxity in responding to incidents involving antisemitic language. Last month, the Metropolitan Police concluded that an imam’s prayer calling to “destroy Jewish homes” did not meet the legal threshold for a hate crime. During the sermon, delivered at an east London mosque two weeks after the October 7 attacks, the imam invoked curses upon “the Jews and the children of Israel.”

A police spokesperson acknowledged the content was “upsetting” but said it ultimately did not constitute a prosecutable offense under current law. The CST responded by accusing the Met of “two-tier policing.”

Britain has seen a surge in antisemitic incidents since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Official data released last month indicated a record 25% rise in religious hate crimes over the past year, predominantly targeting Jews.

In London alone, there have been numerous antisemitic flare-ups, including a woman allegedly threatening a Jewish man with a knife in Stamford Hill and protesters openly carrying placards bearing swastikas. The CST and other Jewish security groups have repeatedly asked law enforcement to implement stricter measures to protect the community, but to no avail.

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