Jews don't feel safe.

Yesterday's attack on a synagogue in northern England has heightened fears within the Jewish community, already facing a sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents, and prompted warnings about the need to keep doors closed and avoid gathering in public places.

Two people were killed and three seriously injured when an attacker drove a car into worshippers and attacked security with a knife in front of a synagogue in the Krumpsal neighborhood, where those gathered were marking Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

British police confirmed that the attacker, who was wearing a vest believed to be an explosive device, was killed at the scene. Bomb disposal teams later secured his vehicle, while an investigation quickly classified the attack as terrorism.

It is the latest act of violence directed against British Jews after Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza in response to attacks by Hamas militants in October 2023.

“I’m Jewish and I’m absolutely terrified,” Vicky, who did not want to give her last name, told Reuters near the scene of the attack on the Manchester synagogue. “I just don’t feel safe.”

Across Britain, the number of reported anti-Semitic incidents last year was the second highest in modern history. A Jewish charity that advises communities on security said the Hamas attack and the ensuing war had prompted thousands of cases, including violent attacks and threats.

The attack took place in Manchester, an area with a large Jewish community. Hours after the incident, two cars drove past with Palestinian flags and several men wearing balaclavas appeared near a synagogue, where they could be heard muttering the word “Jews,” according to a Reuters reporter at the scene.

"I don't know how someone, after hearing about such a terrible attack, can come and try to provoke people, the victims of that attack," Simon Cassel, a Jewish student who lives near the synagogue, told the British agency.

The Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that coordinates security measures at Jewish institutions, has urged Jews not to gather outside communal facilities or synagogues and to keep doors closed. In the latest 2021 census, almost 290.000 people in Britain identified themselves as Jewish.

British police said they would increase patrols near synagogues.

“I want to be clear, the UK police are mobilising. And they are doing it quickly,” said Lawrence Taylor, head of the counter-terrorism unit. “Police forces are increasing patrols across the country, at synagogues, Jewish sites and in the wider area, to provide reassurance and reassurance to all communities affected.”

The incident occurred less than a week before the second anniversary of Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Israeli embassy in London called the attack "heinous and deeply disturbing."

In Britain, the number of anti-Semitic incidents more than doubled in 2024 compared to the same period two years earlier, according to data compiled by the CST. Of the 3.528 reported incidents, 201 - or around six percent - involved physical attacks or other forms of violence. The CST said around half of the incidents involved inflammatory rhetoric about the conflict between Israel and Hamas, with explicit anti-Semitic language and insults.

In February last year, the Government pledged £70 million for a Jewish Community Security Fund, which would finance measures such as security, video surveillance and alarm systems.

Synagogues and a nursery in Golders Green, an area of ​​north London with a large Jewish population, were allegedly desecrated with feces last month.

Dina (46), who attended a service at one of the synagogues in Golders Green, said she would advise her two sons to stop wearing the Jewish hat, known as a kippah, in public places such as the London Underground or buses after yesterday's attack.

"I'll tell them to take off everything that can make them recognizable," she said.