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The safety of the UK’s Jewish community is an absolute priority, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has said, amid ongoing violence in Israel and Gaza.
“History has shown us that Jews in the UK are targeted in response to actions in the Middle East, completely inappropriately so,” he told the BBC.
Children at a Jewish school in London have been told they do not have to wear blazers so as to avoid identification.
Nearby, police are investigating “Free Palestine” graffiti.
Three days after Hamas launched a murderous assault on Israel, more than 900 people are known to have died. Retaliatory strikes on Gaza have killed almost 690, Palestinian authorities say.
Speaking on BBC’s Breakfast, Mr Cleverly said the question of security for British Jews in the UK was discussed at an emergency Cobra meeting chaired by the prime minister on Monday and he knew Home Secretary Suella Braverman felt “very, very strongly” about the community’s safety and was “taking action”.
Ms Braverman has written to police chiefs in England and Wales urging them to step up patrols and use their powers to prevent “disorder and distress to our communities”.
“There is no place for demonstrations, convoys, or flag-waving on British streets that glorifies terrorism or harasses the Jewish community,” she said.
On Monday evening, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joined prayers at a north London synagogue, where he told the British Jewish community he would “stop at nothing” to keep them safe.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered near the Israeli Embassy
Around the same time in Kensington, west London, thousands took part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the Israeli embassy. Groups including Stop the War and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign were represented.
Large groups of police officers watched as flares were lit and placards calling for Israel to “end the occupation” were waved.
A 15-year-old male was arrested on Kensington High Street on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and a 70-year-old man was arrested around the same area on suspicion of racially motivated criminal damage, police said.
A 29-year-old man was also arrested in Oxford Street on suspicion on causing actual bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon, police added.
More on Hamas-Israel attacks
In the prominent Jewish area of Golders Green, north London, “Free Palestine” graffiti daubed on bridges is being investigated.
“No one should be subjected to violence or harassment because of who they are,” British Transport Police said.
The Jewish Free School in Kenton, north London, said it would not give out after-school detentions this week and wearing a blazer with the school’s logo was optional.
“The most important thing is to ensure the safe passage of students between home and school and to make sure that this school is set up to care for our children during the school day,” the headteacher said in an email to parents.
In his BBC interview, the foreign secretary urged UK nationals who wanted to leave Israel to use commercial transport in the first instance, as he confirmed that no UK government-facilitated evacuation was under way yet.
“There are air flights, and of course there are land borders with friendly nations – with Egypt, with Jordan. If you seek to leave Israel, we are working with the air industry and with Israeli air traffic control to maintain those flights.”
Asked whether that policy might change, Mr Cleverly described the situation in Israel as “very fast moving”, saying: “I’m not able to speculate as to what might happen in the future.”
He said the situation in Israel was unlike many other consular issues because of the “very, very large number of British-Israeli nationals”, many of whom regard Israel as their permanent home or are serving in the military.
He said it was not comparable to Sudan, where a large-scale evacuation was carried out in April after fighting broke out between rival military factions.
Mr Cleverly described Israel as a “mature, high-functioning democracy” and said the nature of the support they might ask for was likely to be “fundamentally different” to some of the other situations where there has been recent conflict.
More than 10 Britons are feared dead or missing following the attacks including Nathanel Young and Bernard Cowan.
Asked about the latest information he had on British people caught up in the violence, he said he would not speculate on numbers.
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