The Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation into an “antisemitic hate crime” after three Israelis were physically assaulted in London’s Leicester Square by a group of up to 20 thugs who overheard them speaking Hebrew.
The three, who included a woman, were confronted by a large group of males in the early hours of Sunday, who allegedly spotted one of the males wearing a kippah.
The Israelis later said they were punched in the head and neck by the gang who chanted “free Palestine” before they carried out the assault. The attack took place at around 1.30am on Sunday.
The female victim, who gave her name as Tehilla, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that the group were speaking Hebrew when men confronted them asking ‘are you Jewish?’
The 28-year-old told the paper: “I said, ‘Yes, I’m Jewish,’ and then they started chanting ‘free Palestine’, and f*** Jews, all this kind of swearing at us.
“So we just tried not to get into trouble, to walk away, but they started following us and then all of a sudden, it started with like two or three guys, and all of a sudden, they called all their friends and 15 to 20 guys started attacking us physically.”
Photographs posted on social media showed a male victim with a visible bruise on the side of his head.
Tehilla was also shown with a wound to her knee.
In a statement the Metropolitan Police confirmed it had taken them 28 minutes to respond to a call about the incident. Detective Supt Lucy O’Connor said: “We are investigating this incident as an antisemitic hate crime.