Arson Attack Targets Finchley Synagogue, Police Probe Antisemitic Hate Crime

Two suspects in dark clothing and balaclavas threw two bottles suspected to contain petrol and a brick at Finchley Reform Synagogue shortly after midnight on Wednesday, 15 April 2026, in an attack police are treating as an antisemitic hate crime. Neither bottle ignited, and no injuries or damage were reported, but the incident immediately drew detectives from the Met’s North West Command Unit, with support from Counter Terrorism Policing London.

Officers later informed synagogue staff at 08:30 and asked the public for CCTV or dashcam footage that could help identify the attackers. Police also said there would be a heightened presence in the area, while security at the synagogue was significantly increased. Despite the pressure, the synagogue’s regular schedule continued with a large police presence and Community Security Trust support outside the building on Fallow Court Avenue in Finchley.

The Finchley attack landed in the middle of a broader surge in hostility around Jewish sites in north London. On 23 March 2026, four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green were set alight in another incident treated as an antisemitic hate crime. Six fire engines and 40 firefighters were sent to that blaze, which was brought under control at 03:06. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis called that attack “a particularly sickening assault” and said Jewish communities worldwide were facing “a growing pattern” of violent attacks.

The fears deepened again on 19 April 2026, when Kenton United Synagogue in north-west London was also targeted in a suspected arson attack. Jewish News described it as the third suspected arson attack on Jewish locations in the capital in as many days, following Finchley and a former Jewish Futures site in Hendon. At Kenton, a petrol bomb was thrown through a window, causing minor smoke damage to an internal room but no significant structural damage or injuries.

Saul Taylor, president of United Synagogue, said a synagogue is not just a building but a place of worship, community and safety, and argued that more must be done to prevent the attacks. The response so far has centered on visible protection, investigation and appeals for evidence, but the pattern of incidents has left the Jewish community facing an urgent question: whether security and policing have moved fast enough to meet a threat that is increasingly being felt in real time.