The Met said the new “community protection team” will initially comprise 100 extra officers and combine neighbourhood policing with “specialist protection and counter-terrorism capabilities”.
It will provide “a more visible, intelligence‑led and coordinated presence focused on protecting” London’s Jewish communities, the force said in a statement.
The announcement came the day after police said they were probing the latest arson incident targeting Jews, this time involving a former synagogue in east London.
It followed last week’s stabbing of two Jewish men in the Golders Green area of north London, which is home to a large Jewish community.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after the incident, which injured the pair.
In March, an arson attack in the same neighbourhood destroyed four ambulances run by the Hatzola Jewish charity, while bottles suspected of containing petrol have been thrown at two synagogues in other separate incidents.
The Met noted in its announcement that it has arrested over 80 people in the past four weeks in response to both antisemitic hate crimes and the string of arson attacks.
Met commissioner Mark Rowley revealed last week he had been discussing with ministers and officials about creating a 300-strong neighbourhood policing team, including specialist armed officers, for the Jewish community.
He hailed the creation of the new team, with around a third of that number, as “an important step in strengthening our response to the sustained threats Jewish communities are facing”.
“It brings together experienced local officers who know their communities, supported by specialist capabilities, to provide more visible, consistent and intelligence‑led protection,” he added in Wednesday’s statement.
The Met added the unit would initially be “primarily focused” on protecting the Jewish community but was “also intended to provide a blueprint for how policing responds when tensions rise” in other communities.
“This focus does not mean the Metropolitan Police is deprioritising other communities,” the force added.
“Hate crime in all its forms – including ongoing efforts to tackle racism, anti‑Muslim hate crime, homophobia and other forms of hatred in the capital – remains a core policing priority.”
Meanwhile on Tuesday, the chief prosecutor for England and Wales Stephen Parkinson announced hate crime prosecutions were set to be fast-tracked due to the “deeply troubling rise in antisemitic incidents”.