The vehicles belonging to the Hatzola Jewish Community Ambulance service were set on fire at around 1:45am on Monday
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Members of the Golders Green Jewish community have claimed they raised security concerns several times before Monday's ambulance arson attack, with the site being "watched for weeks" beforehand.
Footage shows three masked arsonists approaching one of the ambulances, belonging to the Hatzola Jewish Community Ambulance service, moments before a blaze erupts and engulfs the vehicle in flames.
It was one of four vehicles belonging to the service that were set alight on a quiet residential street in the north London enclave at around 1:45am on Monday, police said.
The incident is being treated as an "anti-Semitic hate crime" by the Met.
Jack Taub, 34, who is part of the synagogue’s leadership team, said he believed the site and the ambulances next to it had been “staked out” in recent weeks.
He told The Telegraph: “We have noticed people staking out the synagogue. We upped a lot of security, but it was a calculated attack.”
Taub said members of the community ran towards the scene to alert residents, adding: “People were knocking on doors to wake people up. It is not going to stop us. The beautiful thing about the Jewish community is everyone looks after each other.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the “deeply shocking anti-Semitic arson attack”, adding: “My thoughts are with the Jewish community who are waking up this morning to this horrific news.”
He added: "Anti-Semitism has no place in our society.
“Anyone with any information must come forward to the police.”
Gedale Weinberg, 57, said he was among the first people at the scene and described the incident as “terrifying”.
He said: “For this to happen on our own doorstep and to ambulances of all things.”
Weinberg also said he no longer felt safe living openly as a Jewish man in Britain, adding: “I cannot wear my yamaka when I leave this area, I have become a coward. We are living in a very sad world, we are a target. We are now frightened. It is 1930 all over again.”
Superintendent Sarah Jackson, who leads policing in the area, said: "We know this incident will cause a great deal of community concern and officers remain on the scene to carry out urgent enquiries.
"We are in the process of examining CCTV and are aware of online footage. We believe we are looking for three suspects at this early stage."
Police said reports of explosions are believed to be linked to gas canisters on board the ambulances.
Nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution and road closures in the area remain in place.
Hatzola, which owns the ambulances, is a large non-profit volunteer organisation that provides Jewish people with emergency medicine and transport to hospitals for free.
Alex, a Rabbi from Borehamwood, told LBC's Ian Payne: "I'm utterly shocked to wake up to this news of a sickening antisemitic attack on Hatzola ambulances.
"These ambulances are there to save lives, not of Jews but of everybody. And to target them sends a very, very sickening message to the Jewish community.
"I think it's not only high time that the authorities explain how they're going to support and protect the Jewish people, Jewish community in this country, but also what does British society have to offer Jews in this country? "
Multiple Hatzolah Ambulances Set Ablaze in Golders Green, Foul Play Suspected:
Several Hatzolah ambulances were found engulfed in flames in Golders Green, England prompting a major emergency response late tonight.Police and fire crews are currently en route and working to… pic.twitter.com/b9kX7I7BEt— Chaskel Bennett (@ChaskelBennett) March 23, 2026
Shomrim, a non-profit organisation which operates a neighbourhood watch in the Golders Green neighbourhood, said it was "aware of loud explosions" early on Monday morning."
"Emergency services are on scene following a deliberate incident involving #Hatzola ambulances being set alight," the group said in a post on X.
"The explosions were caused by oxygen tanks not a bomb or explosive device. Although some buildings have been evacuated no casualties have been reported."Please avoid the area while investigations continue."
The attack has been compared to recent arson attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands which a new, Iran-linked extremist group calling itself Ashab Al Yamin has claimed responsibility for.
Earlier this month, there was an explosion at a synagogue in Liège, Belgium which the city’s mayor called a “violent act of antisemitism”, as well as a similar incident at a Jewish primary school in Amsterdam.
A spokesman for the CST, a charity that protects British Jews from terrorism and anti-Semitism, said: “The antisemitic arson attack against Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green has obvious comparison to similar recent attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands."
No injuries have been reported at this time and we are helping Met Police Barnet with their enquiries.”
