The U.K.'s chief rabbi said Friday that the deadly attack at a synagogue in Manchester was "inevitable" given the "deep tone of Jew hatred on the streets" in Britain, and called on the government to do more to protect its citizens.

"A lot of the Jew hate has gone by unchecked and it was only a matter of time," Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said.

An assailant drove a car into people outside a synagogue Thursday and then attacked people with a knife in what police called a terrorist attack on the holiest day of the Jewish year.

Two people were killed in the attack before officers shot and killed the suspect.

One of the victims appears to have been accidentally shot by a police officer as worshippers tried to stop the attacker entering the building, law enforcement authorities said Friday.

"Yesterday was a horrific day," Mirvis added.