London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been accused of failing to adequately engage and support Jewish leaders despite multiple terrifying attacks on the community in the past year.
The mayor’s official diary shows he has not had a one-to-one meeting with key Jewish communal organisations and stakeholders such as the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council, Community Security Trust (CST) or the Chief Rabbi in the past year.
The only Jewish group with whom the mayor had a formal one-to-one is AJEX, the Jewish Military Association – in February this year.
In the year since the terror attack on Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur, there have been arson assaults against Hatzolah ambulances and synagogues in London, as well as a stabbing spree in Golders Green in April in which two people were injured.
A senior Jewish communal source told the JC: “It’s quite extraordinary that there have been no one-to-one meetings between the Mayor of London and representatives of key communal organisations when you consider the context of the past year: Heaton Park, Golders Green, fire bombings and continued incitement on protests.
“There continues to be routine engagement with the office but the mayor seems to be more concerned with using his public profile to make interventions on Gaza.”
The JC understands that the mayor had telephone conversations with CST’s CEO Mark Gardner in March and President of the Board of Deputies Phil Rosenberg.
The mayor also hosted a Mitzvah Day event in November and a Holocaust Memorial Day event in City Hall; visited Hatzolah in March and Finchley Reform Synagogue in April, where Rosenberg was present; went to the prime minister’s summit on antisemitism in May, which was attended by key communal groups; and went on a tour of the Nova Festival exhibition in July.
However, given the danger faced by London’s Jewish community over the past year and Khan’s regular denouncement of Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza, there is a view in the community and beyond that those engagements have been inadequate.
James Cleverly, the former home secretary who hopes to become his party’s mayoral candidate, said that Jewish Londoners “deserve a mayor who will give them the time of day”.
The last meeting between Khan and Chief Rabbi Mirvis was in October 2023.
After the meeting, Mirvis criticised a call by Khan for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying on social media that the mayor’s remark “would be an irresponsible stepping stone to yet more Hamas terrorist brutality”.
In May 2024, after much criticism and uproar, Khan apologised to Mirvis for suggesting that the Chief Rabbi had been more critical of his call for a ceasefire in Gaza than he had been of similar statements by Andy Burnham, then the mayor of Manchester, because he is Muslim.
In an interview with pundit Mehdi Hasan at the time, Khan said: “He’s not called ‘Ahmed Bourani’, he’s called Andy Burnham, whereas I’m called Sadiq Khan.”
The mayor, who was elevated to the House of Lords last week, expressed deep “regret” for his remarks.
In May this year, the Jewish Leadership Council criticised the mayor’s “dismissive and inadequate” response to repeated instances of antisemitism on pro-Palestine marches, attacking his “failure to condemn the repeated criminality seen at events presented as peaceful protests”.
Although foreign affairs are not in the mayor’s remit, he has regularly criticised Israel’s actions in Gaza, saying they amounted to “genocide”. In July, during an interview with Channel 4, Khan said Israel’s prime minister was not welcome in the capital, adding: “People who commit genocide are not welcome in London.”
Cleverly hit out at Khan’s interactions with the Jewish community.
He told the JC: “For too long our Jewish communities have been made to feel unsafe by rising antisemitism in London and beyond.
“Jewish Londoners deserve a mayor who will give them the time of day, instead of phoning it in and letting London’s problems fester.”
Cleverly continued: “As foreign secretary and home secretary I made protecting our Jewish communities a top priority, I secured £54 million in extra funding for the Community Security Trust, taking that commitment to £70 million, the largest of its kind ever made.
“I would bring that same commitment as mayor of London, to ensure Jewish people are safe, and feel safe, in our city.”
Sources close to Khan insisted that it was inaccurate to portray the depth of his relationship with the Jewish community through one-on-one meetings alone.
They asserted that he maintains good relations with the community and that during his visits – including to Hatzola in Stamford Hill, Finchley Reform Synagogue and the prime minister’s summit on antisemitism – he hears the concerns of the community and speaks to communal leaders.
“These are important and lengthy meetings where the mayor gets to hear from a range of Jewish communal voices and organisations,” they said.
A spokesperson for Khan told the JC: “The mayor, his deputy mayors, and advisers regularly speak and meet with representatives of the Jewish community as part of Sadiq’s commitment to supporting the community and tackling the vile scourge of antisemitism.
“Throughout his time in office the mayor has been proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with London’s Jewish community and send a clear message that there is absolutely no place for antisemitic hatred in the capital.
“That’s why he has led from the front ensuring the police take a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitic hate crime, actively lobbying for a new dedicated Community Protection Team, backing the Community Security Trust with action and funding, and supporting local communities across London to challenge antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head.”
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.