Pro-Iranian group – The ‘Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand’ – made shocking claims on why it targeted four ambulances in anti-semitic attack in north London
The mystery Iranian group thought to have carried out the Golders Green attacks made shocking claims on why they targeted the four ambulances.
The ‘Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand’ said there were two reasons. One was a visit from former Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to the adjacent synagogue. The second was the synagogue had the “deepest connection”with a controversial Rabbi – over 100 years ago.
The group said: “This historical bond continues to this day, and the synagogue has become one of the main bastions of support for Israel in Britain, so much so that in June 2024, Rishi Sunak, the former British Prime Minister, visited this site amidst the Gaza war to affirm, alongside his expression of solidarity with the Jewish community, his country’s unwavering support for Israel.”
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They went on and said Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook became “the first Chief Rabbi of “Israel”.
It claimed the synagogue had the “deepest connection” with the rabbi, who it said had been “one of the most influential thinkers of Religious Zionism”.
The SITE Intelligence monitoring service said a group calling itself, in Arabic, the ‘Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand’, had carried out the the attack in Golders Green, north London.
It said the movement had also claimed responsibility for blazes in Belgium, Greece and the Netherlands.
In its posting, the group had clearly prepared in advance a three-language statement in English, Hebrew and Arabic purporting to link the synagogue next to the ambulance car park with a former rabbi of that community – at a different location – between 1916 and 1919.
Rabbi Kook later became the chief rabbi for some of the community of Ashkenazi [European] Jews living in British-mandated Palestine, and died in 1935 – more than a decade before the state of Israel was established. Much of this material could have been lifted from the synagogue’s website, though that website made no mention of ‘Religious Zionism’.
The statement must have been prepared before the attack, given how soon and professionally it seems to have been prepared. Counter terrorism police are continuing to hunt for the three men who carried out the anti-semitic attack on the ambulances. Forensic officers remained across the Golders Green area.
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing for the Met, said today these type of incidents had a “huge impact on Jewish communities”. He said the Iranian-backed plots disrupted in the UK since October 2024 had included “everything from assassination, to kidnap, to espionage”.
Taylor said part of the measures used to increase security for the Jewish community include drones, live facial recognition technology, and an increased police presence. He said: “We completely understand the concerns within Jewish communities and the fear that this creates, and we are absolutely determined to bring those individuals to justice.”
Lord Beamish, who sits on the Intelligence and Security Committee, said there was a pattern of Iran targeting anti-government dissidents and the Jewish community “through proxies”. “The important thing is that communities are united at this point,” he said.
