A Statement from Chosen People Ministries UK

It’s with great sadness and a heavy heart that I write about what occurred today. Once again, the Jewish community of Golders Green was targeted in a horrific knife attack. Two Jewish people were stabbed on Golders Green Road by a man who was witnessed running through this Jewish neighbourhood, brandishing a knife, deliberately targeting Jewish members of the public. Shomrim volunteers detained the suspect, after which he was arrested by police. The Jewish community are once again grateful to these volunteers for their courage. We join with the Jewish Community in praying for the full recovery of both victims and the safety of their community and neighbourhood.

Of great concern is that this attack is not an isolated incident. It follows the arson of the Hatzola ambulances last month, the attempted fire-bombing of a synagogue on 18th April, and the following weekend at the former premises of a Jewish charity in Hendon. This is a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against Jewish people in Britain. Last year alone, the Community Security Trust recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents in the UK — more than double the figure just three years earlier. The chief rabbi has rightly warned that this “sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community is gathering momentum.” And Sarah Sackman, the MP for Finchley and Golders Green, said: “Attacks on British Jews are an attack on Britain itself.”

What does the Bible say?

Scripture is unambiguous. God’s covenant with Abraham is eternal: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse” (Genesis 12:3). The Jewish people are described as “the apple of His eye” (Zechariah 2:8) . So, to strike at them is to strike at the heart of God and His redemptive purposes. Antisemitism is not a social evil or a political problem. It is a spiritual rebellion against the God of Israel and His plan of salvation for all peoples, which came to the world “through the Jews” (John 4:22).

We affirm that the Church, the Body of Messiah, is rooted in the Jewish scriptures, saved through a Jewish Messiah, and indebted to the Jewish people for the very Word of God, and must not be silent in the face of hatred toward the Jewish community.

A Call to Prayer

We urge every believer and every church across the UK to pray:

• For the two victims stabbed today, for their healing, both of body and spirit
• For the Jewish community of Golders Green and across Britain, who are living in fear in their own streets
• For the police and authorities to act with urgency and determination
• For a turning of hearts in our nation, that antisemitism would be confronted, condemned, and defeated
• That the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would comfort and protect His people, and that in this darkness, many Jewish people would find their Messiah, Yeshua

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May those who love you be secure.” — Psalm 122:6