LONDON — Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government would back police in halting some pro-Palestinian demonstrations and that protesters chanting 'globalise the Intifada' could be prosecuted. He said discussions with police had been under way for some time about what further action could be taken.

He said he would not interfere in day-to-day policing but would support stopping some protests altogether in certain instances, and that he defends freedom of expression and peaceful protest. "But when there are chants like 'globalise the Intifada', that's completely off limits," Starmer said.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said people who use the phrase 'globalise the Intifada' are likely to be arrested. He said the threat to the Jewish community was greater than it had ever been before, citing polling on the prevalence of antisemitic views, and said Jewish communities felt the hostility and were changing their lives because of it.

"A dangerous and troubling mix of hate crimes, terrorism and the involvement of hostile states is coming together in the UK to create a terrifying atmosphere for British Jews." Rowley said British Jews were on the 'hate' list of every racist and extremist group, including extreme left groups, Islamist terrorists, rightwing terrorists, and some hostile states with Iranian-related threats, and that the problem was embedded in society and being licensed in public debate.

The remarks followed a series of attacks on Jewish sites. A deadly antisemitic terror attack on the Heaton Park synagogue occurred in October 2025. In March 2026, four Jewish community ambulances were torched in Golders Green in north-west London, and an attempted arson occurred at the Finchley Reform synagogue in north London between March and April 2026. A former Jewish charity building was attacked in Barnet in north London, and items were found near the Israeli embassy in London the same day. A court heard that a teenage boy smashed the window of the Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow before lighting a bottle and throwing it inside.

On April 30, 2026, two men were stabbed in Golders Green. A 45-year-old British national born in Somalia was remanded in custody on charges of attempted murder at his first court appearance. The UK increased its security alert level to 'severe', the second highest, in part because of the attack in Golders Green.