Man wounded in Manchester synagogue terror attack considering move to Israel amid antisemitism

Yoni Finlay, who was shot and seriously injured during the deadly Yom Kippur terror attack at a Manchester synagogue, says he is thinking of moving to Israel due to antisemitism in the United Kingdom.

Finlay tells London’s Sunday Times that he and his ex-wife have been discussing if they should make the move with their four children.

“It would be really upsetting to leave Manchester. This is my hometown. I am Mancunian. But I can’t bring my kids up in this environment,” he says, noting that his children have experienced antisemitism.

“There is so much anger and so much hate,” he says. “It’s become hard to recognize the UK any more, with the [anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian] hate marches and the chanting.

“It’s very difficult. People being angry at Israel shouldn’t turn that into hatred of Jews. I have said this again and again: Words have impact, and actions have consequences. And this sort of terrorist attack is the consequence,” he says.

“I believe there is light and there is darkness, and there was a huge amount of darkness that day,” Finlay says.

“I have never been that close to evil. You could feel it radiating off him,” he says of Jihad Al-Shamie, who was shot dead by police on October 2 outside the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in Manchester after he rammed a car into pedestrians, attacked them with a knife and tried to force his way into the building.

Congregation members Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, were killed in the attack.

Finlay says Shamie yelled “This is for the kids you have killed,” presumably a reference to the actions of the IDF during the war against Hamas in Gaza.

“I remember the crack of the guns going off,” says Finlay. A bullet fired by police is believed to have traveled through Shamie and the door of the synagogue before hitting Finlay, who was helping to barricade the entrance.

“I was putting pressure myself on the wound, like you see in the films,” Finlay says.

Finlay says his father, who was at the synagogue and is a retired doctor, has told him that he had felt helpless and unable to help his son.

“He didn’t have the training for a gunshot wound. That was a difficult thing for a son to hear their father say, because they are always there to help and support you,” Finlay says.

Finlay says he does not want the police officer who fired the bullet that hit him to lose his job.

“I wouldn’t want anybody to lose their job over what happened,” he says. “Ultimately, the police ran towards danger to protect us. They were doing everything they could to try to stop a terrorist trying to kill us. That’s what they were doing.”

Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear kippahs.

Yoni Finlay stopped Jihad al-Shamie at the doors of Heaton Park Synagogue and saved lives.

Remember his name ???????? pic.twitter.com/2fYOSfSS1K

— ZIONS OF ISRAEL (@Israeli_Sniper) October 3, 2025