Downing Street has confirmed it has offered the Israeli embassy in London full support and protection in the aftermath of the antisemitic murder of two staff members in Washington DC.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer also said he thoroughly condemned the shooting of the two Israeli embassy workers – Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim – who were shot at 9.05pm local time as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in the US.
“Antisemitism is an evil we must stamp out wherever it appears,” added Starmer, who said his thoughts were with the “colleagues, family and loved ones” of the victims.
He continued: “As always, I stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.”
The PM’s spokesperson also said Starmer stood “shoulder to shoulder” with the Jewish community in this country, and confirmed the government remaining in touch with the Israeli embassy here.
Lord Mann addresses Lords committee
Starmer’s official spokesperson added:”As you know, we continue to provide around £18m a year in funding for protective security measures for Jewish community sites in the UK.”
But the government’s approach towards Israel’s actions in Gaza will not change as a result of the killings, the spokesperson indicated.
But he added this “does not take away at all from the fact that antisemitism is an evil that must be stamped out wherever it appears”.
Lord John Mann, the government’s antisemtism adviser, said the murders were “precisely the kind of extreme and barbarous antisemitic attack that I have been warning the UK Government about for some time.”
Discussing the incident on Sky News, Mann stressed that the UK had better systems in place to protect the community here than that seen in America.
The Community Security Trust’s Dave Rich told the news channel the community here was in “shock” over the murders, but that with a surge in antisemtic hate they were not unexpected.
Rich also stressed security services and counter-terror police had previously foiled a incidents in this country.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy also condemned the “appalling” incident in Washington DC.
“Horrified by the killing of two Israeli Embassy staff in DC,” he said in a post on X.
“We condemn this appalling, antisemitic crime.
“Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and colleagues at this awful time.”
The suspect, identified as Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, was seen pacing outside the museum before the shooting, Metropolitan Police chief Pamela Smith said.
When he was taken into custody, he began chanting “Free, free Palestine,” Smith added.
