Britain’s King Charles has agreed to become the patron of one of the country’s largest Jewish charities, it said on Tuesday, a day after a suspected antisemitic arson attack in north London.
The Community Security Trust, which advises Britain’s estimated 280,000 Jews on security matters, said the king had accepted its invitation to be its patron, reflecting the monarch’s “longstanding commitment to promoting tolerance, inclusion and interfaith understanding”.
The patronage was not a direct response to the arson attack and Charles, who is titular head of the Church of England, has a long history of meeting with different faith leaders and promoting interfaith dialogue.
Buckingham Palace had no comment on Tuesday.
SYNAGOGUE VISIT LAST YEAR
Last year, Charles visited a synagogue in northern England following an attack that left two Jewish worshippers dead. He said at the time he was “deeply shocked and saddened” and met some of those who had been inside when it took place.
In the early hours of Monday, four Jewish ambulances were set on fire in an attack which British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said was “deeply shocking”, while police are investigating a possible link to Iran.
In Britain, concern has mounted about rising levels of antisemitism and the CST said that last year was the country’s second worst on record for incidents.
“It is too early for me to attribute last night’s attack in Golders Green to the Iranian state … but whoever was responsible, the impact is serious,” London police chief Mark Rowley told the CST’s annual dinner on Monday.
He said counter-terrorism police were looking into an online claim of responsibility by an Islamist group, which has said it was responsible for other attacks across Europe and has Iranian state links.
(Reporting by Sarah Young and Michael Holden）
