Council leader Barry Rawlings says we must increase efforts to tackle antisemitism following Monday’s attack in Golders Green

Barry Rawlings pictured outside Hendon Town Hall (credit Barnet Council)

Everyone in Barnet has been shocked by the attack on the four ambulances run by Jewish voluntary organisation Hatzola earlier this week.

I am proud that Barnet has the largest Jewish population of any local authority area in the country.

Our Jewish community is one of the things that makes Barnet, Barnet. We must and will stand with them.

That the perpetrators sought to intimidate and threaten the community in this way is unspeakable.

Everyone at the council welcomes the arrest of suspects and we hope that justice will be served as swiftly as possible.

But we know that this is not an incident in isolation.

The Jewish community has been facing rising antisemitism for some time now.

Heartbreakingly, I hear our Jewish residents say they were shocked, but not surprised by the incident. We must act.

We will continue to support the political consensus that stretches through governments of all parties to fund Jewish security.

The current Jewish community security grant is currently £28 million, and covers synagogues, schools and community centres.

We continue to fund our Prevent programme in Barnet, that identifies people at the risk of becoming terrorists and puts them on a path to deradicalisation.

We also welcome the government’s Protecting What Matters plan on dealing with extremism in public bodies, charities, schools and universities.

The Charity Commission will be strengthened in shutting down charities where necessary, and there will be increased monitoring of extremism on campuses.

We are working closely with police now to help ensure that there are effective lines of communication between law enforcement and the community.

It is imperative that we listen to the community as we ramp up efforts to take on the scourge of antisemitism.

I also want at this difficult time to pay tribute to Hatzola, who serve members of all communities in the areas where they are active.

We have found Hatzola to be a vital partner in helping to save lives and encourage better health at the council.

They are a very special organisation and represent some of the best of Barnet.

We are proud that they operate in the borough, and will continue to work with them to ensure they continue to do so.

Barry Rawlings is Labour leader of Barnet Council

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