Police officers work in Langley Crescent, Prestwich, following the Manchester synagogue attack in north Manchester, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police have declared a terrorist incident, Britain, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
A person lays flowers at the scene outside the Manchester synagogue, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police have declared a terrorist incident, in north Manchester, Britain, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble
A message is written on a bouquet of flowers laid at the scene outside the Manchester synagogue, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police have declared a terrorist incident, in north Manchester, Britain, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble
Members of a forensic team arrive at Langley Crescent, Prestwich, following the Manchester synagogue attack in north Manchester, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police have declared a terrorist incident, Britain, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
Police officers stand guard at the cordon outside the Manchester synagogue, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police have declared a terrorist incident, in north Manchester, Britain, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble
Police officers stand guard at the cordon outside the Manchester synagogue, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police have declared a terrorist incident, in north Manchester, Britain, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble
A note is left with flowers, near the Manchester synagogue, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur, in what police have declared a terrorist incident, in north Manchester, Britain, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Flowers are left near the Manchester synagogue, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur, in what police have declared a terrorist incident, in north Manchester, Britain, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
The area outside the Manchester synagogue, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police have declared a terrorist incident, is cordoned off, in north Manchester, Britain, October 3, 2025. R REUTERS/Phil Noble

By Sam Tabahriti

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -The British government vowed to redouble its efforts to tackle antisemitism on Friday as the Jewish community reeled from an attack at a Manchester synagogue that killed two people on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Police also urged organisers of a planned pro-Palestinian protest in London this weekend to cancel or postpone the event, saying it would divert police resources needed to protect fearful communities in the wake of the attack.

Israel accused Britain of allowing rampant antisemitism to spread through its cities and universities since the war in Gaza, and British Jewish leaders said they had long feared an attack as criticism of Israel had spilled over into open hatred of Jews.

Israel repeated that criticism when two men, Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed on Thursday by a British man of Syrian descent who drove a car into pedestrians and then began stabbing them outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the city in northern England.

Police have named the attacker as Jihad al-Shamie, 35, who was shot dead at the scene by armed officers.

INTERIOR MINISTER SAYS GAZA TENSIONS CANNOT SPILL OVER

Antisemitism has soared to record levels in Britain since the October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and Israel's subsequent war in Gaza, according to the Community Security Trust, which provides security to Jewish organisations across Britain.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government has also clashed with Israel over its decision to recognise a Palestinian state.

Britain's interior minister, Shabana Mahmood, said she understood the strength of feeling held by all sides on Gaza but said that must not lead to violence on British streets.

"It is important that we do draw that line between what is happening in the Middle East and events here at home," she said.

She also criticised pro-Palestinian protests that took place hours after the attack in Manchester, calling them un-British and dishonourable, and urged people to show a bit more "humanity and some love towards a community that is grieving".

Mahmood said policing numbers would be increased around Jewish institutions and that the government would do whatever it took to keep the Jewish community safe.

Asked about Israel's criticism, she told the BBC: "There are unacceptable levels of antisemitism in this country, but I just want to be clear, the person who is responsible for the attack that took place yesterday is the attacker himself."

BRITAIN'S JEWS REELING AFTER ATTACK

The killing has left Britain's Jews reeling, particularly in Manchester, home to the country's largest Jewish community outside London and a highly diverse city.

Many Jewish leaders noted that they were the only faith in Britain that routinely required security at its institutions.

Shortly after the attack, which also left three people seriously injured, around 30 mostly Jewish elderly men were seen emerging from the synagogue. Wearing white robes or suits and skullcaps, many were in tears, others looked shocked as they searched for family members.

On Friday morning there was a heavy police presence at the scene of the attack, with debris still lying in the street and bunches of flowers being left nearby. Three blue police tents were visible, one inside the grounds of the synagogue where the attacker had been killed.

Dawud Taj, a 28-year-old from Manchester, said the government should have done a better job at protecting people.

"There's an atmosphere in the air," he told Reuters as he walked to the city centre, "and everything feels a little bit shaky".

(Reporting by Sarah Young and William James; Writing by Kate Holton; Editing by Aidan Lewis)