BICOM

 

The Mayor of London has revealed he is receiving advice from Israeli officials on combatting terrorism.

In an interview with the Jewish News published on Tuesday, Mayor Sadiq Khan said that his “office has been in contact with not only Tel Aviv but other places as well” and that he has looked to Israel for advice on counterterrorism measures.

Khan said that they had learned “lots of things”, and cited the implementation of barriers on London’s bridges to deter and reduce the damage caused by car ramming attacks.

He added that both his office and Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, the head of national counter-terrorism policing, have been in touch with officials in Israel. The mayor further stated that the police visited Israel and are in regular communication with their Israeli counterparts.

Khan also highlighted that hate crime in London had risen sharply in the wake of the London Bridge attack on 3 June.

Israel has a great deal of experience dealing with terrorism. Although in recent months the frequency of attacks has slowed, 47 people have been killed by stabbings, shootings and car rammings in a wave of Palestinian terror attacks since October 2015.

Countries are increasingly looking to Israel’s counterterrorism expertise; Israel’s defence exports last year reached $6.5bn, $800m more than in 2015, as Israeli defence companies are finding new markets abroad for sophisticated cyber and security systems originally developed to tackle attacks at home.