{"id":569073,"date":"2026-05-06T10:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T10:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/569073\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T10:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T10:34:08","slug":"proxies-carrying-out-antisemitic-attacks-in-uk-could-face-14-years-in-prison-uk-security-and-counter-terrorism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/569073\/","title":{"rendered":"Proxies carrying out antisemitic attacks in UK could face 14 years in prison | UK security and counter-terrorism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Offenders who commit antisemitic attacks backed by foreign powers such as Iran<\/a> will face 14 years in prison under legislation to be included in the king\u2019s speech next week.<\/p>\n

Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, will be given the power under the National Security Act to designate proxy groups, such as those thought to be behind the recent attacks on the Jewish community, as a foreign intelligence service.<\/p>\n

Those carrying out activities on behalf of that group will face a maximum punishment of 14 years in jail even if they are unaware of who they are working for.<\/p>\n

The move is designed to tackle the growth of foreign proxies recruiting criminals on social media to carry out acts of terrorism, sabotage and espionage.<\/p>\n

The number of national security cases involving hostile states carrying out operations such as spying and sabotage in the UK has increased by half in six months, the head of counter-terrorism policing<\/a> has said.<\/p>\n

The move, first disclosed in the Times, comes after the Metropolitan police announced a community protection team of 100 extra officers to help safeguard the Jewish community. The force previously said 300 more officers were needed to tackle the rise in antisemitism across the capital.<\/p>\n

The legislation will introduce proscription-like powers for the home secretary to ban state groups such as Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), delivering on a pledge made by Labour three years ago.<\/p>\n

The laws will allow police and prosecutors to investigate and prosecute individuals under section 3 of the National Security Act 2023, which criminalises conduct that is likely to assist a foreign intelligence service.<\/p>\n

The emergence of proxy groups acting on behalf of Iran and Russia has exploited a gap in Britain\u2019s national security laws.<\/p>\n

The law will enable the home secretary to designate Islamist groups such as the Iranian-linked Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia<\/a>, which has claimed responsibility for at least half a dozen antisemitic attacks against Jewish communities.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday the prime minister said Iran\u2019s attempts to \u201cfoment violence, hatred or division\u201d in British society would not be tolerated as he publicly blamed Tehran for the spate of recent attacks on the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

He was speaking as he convened a meeting of leaders from police, prosecutors, the NHS, trade unions, universities and community groups alongside senior ministers to discuss how to combat soaring levels of antisemitism in society.<\/p>\n

After the meeting, the Crown Prosecution Service announced guidance instructing prosecutors to fast-track hate crime cases<\/a> in an attempt to tackle the \u201cdeeply troubling rise in antisemitic incidents\u201d.<\/p>\n

Since late March, there have been a series of arson attacks at Jewish sites in London, as well as a double stabbing in Golders Green that is being treated as an act of terrorism.<\/p>\n

Counter-terrorism police are investigating a suspected arson at a former synagogue in Nelson Street, Whitechapel, in the early hours of Tuesday.<\/p>\n

A Met police spokesperson said: \u201cBritish Jews now appear on the hate lists of every major extremist movement: extreme rightwing groups, Islamist terrorists, elements of the extreme left and hostile state actors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a deeply concerning convergence, and Jewish communities are living with the consequences of that risk daily.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis focus does not mean the Metropolitan police is deprioritising other communities. Hate crime<\/a> in all its forms \u2013 including ongoing efforts to tackle racism, anti\u2011Muslim hate crime, homophobia and other forms of hatred in the capital \u2013 remains a core policing priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Home Office said: \u201cLegislation is being fast tracked to introduce new proscription-like powers to ban the activities of state-backed organisations who pose a threat to national security.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have introduced a comprehensive set of measures aimed at countering threats posed by the Iranian regime, including sanctioning the IRGC in its entirety and freezing UK property of more than 550 Iranian individuals and entities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Offenders who commit antisemitic attacks backed by foreign powers such as Iran will face 14 years in prison…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-569073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}