Britain raised its national terrorism threat level from "substantial" to "severe" on Thursday, one day after a stabbing attack wounded two Jewish men in Golders Green, a residential area of northwest London. The government cited a broader, rising threat from both Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorism.
Metropolitan Police charged Essa Suleiman, 45, with two counts of attempted murder in connection with the stabbings. A British national born in Somalia, Suleiman has lived in the UK since childhood. He faces a third attempted murder charge tied to a separate incident earlier the same day in another part of London, in which a man suffered minor injuries. The attack has been formally declared a terrorist incident.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood called the stabbing "abhorrent" and "a vile act of terrorism." In a government statement, she acknowledged the particular alarm the attack would cause among Jewish communities. "I know this will be a source of concern to many, particularly among our Jewish community, who have suffered so much," the statement read.
The government was careful to note that the threat level increase was not driven solely by the Golders Green attack. "The terrorist threat level in the UK has been rising for some time," the statement said. London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who expressed solidarity with the Jewish community, noted that the "severe" designation is the second-highest level of security preparedness in the country and means an attack is considered highly likely.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Golders Green on Thursday and met with emergency responders. Some local residents protested during his visit, calling on the government to do more. Dov Forman, a 22-year-old author and activist who lives in the area, told CBS News the attack came as no surprise. "No one here is shocked or surprised that this has happened," he said. "We all knew after previous attacks that this was not a question of if there would be another attack, but simply when."
The stabbing came roughly a month after an arson attack in the same neighborhood destroyed four emergency response vehicles belonging to an independent Jewish community ambulance service. The back-to-back incidents have deepened anxiety in one of London's most established Jewish communities.
