The suspect being questioned by police over the Golders Green terror attack has been named as Essa Suleiman, according to reports, as Sir Keir Starmer urged the public to “open their eyes to Jewish pain” and vowed to “stamp this hatred out”.
Police tasered and arrested a 45-year-old man after the double stabbing in north London on Wednesday which saw two Jewish men – Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Ben Baila, 76, named locally as Moshe Shine – taken to hospital.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that Jews in the UK were “scared”, and that on Wednesday “this anxiety that is always there went to another place, to terror”.
Addressing the nation from Downing Street, he said: “This Government will do everything in our power to stamp this hatred out, we will strengthen our security and protect our Jewish community.
“But I also call on everyone decent in this country to open their eyes to Jewish pain, Jewish suffering and Jewish fear.”
Sir Keir also said those attending pro-Palestine marches standing “alongside people who say ‘globalise the intifada’, you are calling for terrorism against Jews”.
He added: “It is racism, extreme racism, and it has left a minority community in this country scared, intimidated, wondering if they belong.”
The Prime Minister, who was earlier heckled as he visited the scene of the attack, declined to apologise to UK Jews following a string of attacks on the community.
Evading a question on whether he should say sorry after one of the victims of the Golders Green stabbing said he felt let down by the Government, he said: “I absolutely understand the high levels of anxiety and concern that there are, reflected in the various reactions over the last days.”
The suspect was a British national, was born in Somalia and came to the UK legally as a child in the 1990s, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said on Thursday.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley previously said the suspect had a “history of serious violence and mental health issues”.
The force later confirmed the suspect was reported to Prevent – the Government’s anti-extremism programme – in 2020 but the case was closed the same year.
Sir Keir said the Government needed to be “open to learning any further lessons that may come out of this investigation” on Prevent.
Yesterday’s terror attack wasn’t an isolated incident, it was the latest attack on the Jewish community for being Jewish.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) April 30, 2026
Today I spoke with volunteers, first responders from Shomrim and Hatzola to thank them for their bravery.
I know that this is a deeply worrying time for the… pic.twitter.com/9SU6YvbF58
It comes as the UK terrorism threat level is expected to be raised to “severe” in the wake of the stabbings, meaning a terror attack is “highly likely”.
It is understood the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre is due to announce the decision soon.
The last time the level was raised to severe was in November 2021 after two attacks in the space of a month, with a bombing outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday and the murder of Conservative MP for Southend West Sir David Amess in October.
In February 2022 the body, which is based in MI5 but makes independent assessments, downgraded the threat to “substantial”, meaning an attack was “likely”, where it has remained since.
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