UK Raises Terror Threat Level to ‘Severe’ After Golders Green Stabbing

Britain raised its national terrorism threat level from “substantial” to “severe” on Thursday following the antisemitic stabbing attack in north London’s Golders Green neighborhood a day earlier. The move means British authorities now assess that a terrorist attack is considered highly likely.

Two Jewish men, ages 76 and 34, were stabbed Wednesday morning on Highfield Avenue in Golders Green, one of the UK’s largest Jewish communities. Police arrested a 45-year-old suspect at the scene, and Counter Terrorism Policing later formally declared the incident a terrorist attack. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley called it “a terrorist attack in north-west London.”

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood said the decision to raise the threat level reflected a broader and worsening security environment rather than only the Golders Green attack itself. British authorities said the assessment also considered growing Islamist and extreme right-wing terror threats across the country.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer used the attack to warn about hostile foreign-state activity targeting Britain’s Jewish community, specifically mentioning Iran in a statement from Downing Street. “We need stronger powers to tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran, because we know for a fact that they want to harm British Jews,” Starmer said.