London: Two Jewish schools forced to close over ‘safety fears | UK News

Ateres Beis Yaakov Primary School in Colindale and Torah Vodaas Primary School in Edgware informed parents the schools would not open now until Monday.

Rabbi Feldman, of Torah Vodaas, said while there was ‘no specific threat to our school’ it was ‘not a decision that has been taken lightly’, in a letter to parents.

Follow our live blog on the Israel-Hamas war here

Rabbi Chaim Pinter, the principal of Yesodey Hatorah School, said they had put ‘certain measures’ in place, including ‘extra patrols’ as well as providing therapists and counsellors to the students.

‘There is worry, people are concerned. People don’t want this to spill over,’ he said.

‘The majority of students live locally, but the students who live out of the local area, they are coming in via taxis rather than public transport.

‘Our priority is the children,’ he added. ‘And the best place, the safest place for a child, is in school.’

Jewish students have been warned by schools to disguise their uniform because of fears of attacks due to the Israel-Hamas war.

A Jewish charity confirmed it had seen a 324% increase in reports of antisemitism since the war started.

This included 66 cases of abusive behaviour, six assaults, 14 direct threats and three instances of vandalism.

The news comes as prime minister Rishi Sunak promised £3million to protect schools, synagogues, and other Jewish community buildings today.

This money will go towards additional guards in schools as well as extra security guards across synagogues on Friday nights and Saturday mornings.

Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.

For more stories like this, check our news page.