Police arrest two over London synagogue arson attempt

By AFP 16 April 2026, 1:07 am

Edit

Police officers stand on duty at a cordon near the Finchley Reform Synagogue, in the North Finchley area of north London, on April 15, 2026, following an attack on the synagogue in the early hours of the morning. (Toby Shepheard / AFP)

Police in London have arrested two people over an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in the north of the city, amid an upsurge in antisemitic incidents in Britain.

The pair — a 47-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man — were detained in Watford, north of the capital, and are being held in custody, police say.

The attack shortly after midnight on Wednesday came after an arson attack on ambulances run by a Jewish charity in London last month and a deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester in October 2025.

The latest incident, which police say is being treated as an “antisemitic hate crime,” is being investigated with support from counter-terrorism detectives.

“I hope the swift action by officers today to identify and arrest two people provides some reassurance and demonstrates how seriously we take attacks of this nature,” Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams, who leads policing in the area, says in a statement.

Describing the attack in an earlier statement, police say two people wearing dark clothing and balaclavas approached the synagogue in Finchley and “threw two bottles suspected to contain petrol,” which did not ignite, the Metropolitan Police Force says.