Jewish group calls for more government protection after Manchester synagogue attack

A prominent Canadian Jewish organization is calling on “leaders of all levels” to enhance security at synagogues after a vehicle and knife attack at a U.K. synagogue on Yom Kippur.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said Prime Minister Mark Carney must ensure Jewish institutions are protected and that all who “incite and commit violence against Canadians are held accountable.”

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“From Ottawa and Montreal to Manchester and Washington, anti-Israel and antisemitic radicalization is fuelling violence against citizens of our countries,” the organization said in a social media post.

Noah Shack, CIJA president, sent a letter to Carney Friday asking that funding for the Canada Community Security Program be “substantially” increased in the Nov. 4 budget.

“Based on our estimates, annual security costs for some of our largest communities have surged to over $40 million due to the spike in threats and attacks,” Shack says in his letter.

The Canada Community Security Program covers up to 70 per cent of the cost of security measures at non-profit institutions vulnerable to hate crimes, with a maximum of $1.5 million per project.

Launched in 2023, the security program had an initial budget of $49.5 million for its first six years; an additional $32 million was added last year. The program is expected to cost $11 million annually starting in 2028/29.

Thursday’s attack in Manchester, which saw two people killed and three others hospitalized, is being described by local police as an act of terrorism.

Police said the suspect was shot and killed by police about seven minutes after he rammed his car into pedestrians outside the synagogue and then attacked them with a knife. They added he was wearing what appeared to be an explosive vest. Authorities later said he did not have a bomb.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

Police say the alleged attacker, 35-year-old British citizen Jihad Al-Shamie, was not previously known to authorities.

Greater Manchester Police Chief Stephen Watson said one of the deceased and one person who was the injured were accidentally shot by police while worshippers tried to prevent the attacker from entering the synagogue. The attacker did not have a gun.

“It is believed that both victims were close together behind the synagogue door, as worshippers acted bravely to prevent the attacker from gaining entry,” Watson said.

Police said Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, died in the attack on the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in the Manchester suburb of Crumpsall on Thursday.

Statistics Canada has tracked a significant increase in the number of police-reported hate crimes against Jewish people in the past two years. Incidents have included firebomb attacks on synagogues and gunshots fired on multiple occasions at a Toronto Jewish school.

Police in Ottawa recently charged a man accused of what they called a hate-motivated stabbing of a Jewish woman at a grocery store.

In England, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the head of Orthodox Judaism in Britain, said the attack in Manchester was the result of “an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred” on the streets and online.

“This is the day we hoped we would never see, but which deep down, we knew would come,” he wrote on social media.

Carney said in a media statement Thursday that hate must be confronted with all available tools and Canada will protect the right of Jewish communities to live free from intimidation.

Police services across Canada, including those in Ottawa and Toronto, increased patrols near Jewish institutions as people gathered to observe Yom Kippur. Ottawa Police said there is no known threat to public safety at this time.

The government introduced hate crime legislation last month that looks to create new offences aimed at acts of obstruction or intimidation at places of worship and institutions — including schools, daycares and seniors’ homes — used by identifiable groups.

In a background document, the government said that “intimidation” under the new legislation could include “threats, acts of violence, or other intimidating behaviour,” while “deliberately blocking doors, driveways, or roads” could count as obstruction.

The maximum penalty for both offences would be 10 years in prison, or just under two years for what the government calls “less serious offences.”

This bill is not meant to create “bubble zones” that prohibit protests around designated buildings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2025.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija and The Associated Press