UK’s top police officer: British Jews facing their greatest ever threat amid ‘epidemic’ of antisemitism

The UK’s top police officer says British Jews are facing their greatest ever threat, with social media fueling an “epidemic” of antisemitism.

“If you overlay three things now — hate crime, terrorism and hostile state activity — you add all that together, that combined effect with that building of ideology online, that is really dangerous and troubling,” says Mark Rowley, head of London’s Metropolitan Police.

“And Jewish communities feel that and you can see that in how they talk, how it’s making them change their lives. That’s an ­appalling state of affairs,” he says.

He tells The Times that British Jews are on the “hate” list of every racist and extremist group.

“Whether you’re extreme left, whether you’re Islamist terrorist, ­whether you’re right-wing terrorist, and some hostile states as well now with some sort of Iranian-related threats. There’s a sort of ghastly Venn diagram that they’re at the middle of,” he says.

Asked if the British Jewish community faces its greatest threat, Rowley responds:“That has to be true”
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The comments come after the Metropolitan Police said that it has charged a man with attempted murder after two Jewish men were stabbed on Wednesday, the latest in a series of attacks targeting the community.

Britain has raised its national terrorism threat level to “severe,” signaling that a terrorist attack is considered highly likely.