A thwarted ISIS-inspired terrorist scheme aimed at Manchester’s Jewish population has sparked fresh concerns about Jewish security in Britain, following the Tuesday conviction of three men for orchestrating a large-scale shooting attack. British officials stated that the Manchester investigation revealed a highly sophisticated operation that might have resulted in the most lethal terrorist strike in U.K. history
Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, were found guilty at Preston Crown Court of conspiring to carry out a shooting attack on Jewish locations in Manchester. A third individual, Saadaoui’s sibling Bilel Saadaoui, 36, was convicted for not reporting details of the conspiracy, as reported by the
Prosecutors revealed that the group intended to execute a roaming gun assault utilizing military-grade weaponry. Saadaoui made an initial payment toward acquiring four AK-47 assault rifles, two handguns, and hundreds of bullets, financing the purchase with proceeds from selling his house and company. Authorities discovered the scheme through a covert police investigation, and Saadaoui was detained while trying to collect the firearms and munitions, according to the CPS.
Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts indicated that the plot could have become “the deadliest in U.K. history,” cautioning that an attack on packed Jewish venues would have produced “catastrophic” outcomes, as stated by
The prosecution stated that Saadaoui idolized Hamid al-Abaoud, the ISIS terrorist who orchestrated the fatal 2015 Paris attacks, and aimed to emulate a comparable method of . The court was told that Saadaoui informed an undercover officer of his desire to murder “young, old, women, elderly, the whole lot,” and referred to Christian casualties as “a bonus,” Sky News reported.
Prosecutors indicated that the men intended to travel between multiple sites and planned to murder law enforcement officers who might intervene. Saadaoui and Hussein also visited the White Cliffs of Dover in March and May 2024 to monitor port safety measures, under the impression they were scouting how arms would be smuggled into the U.K., the CPS reported.
The conspiracy was foiled on May 8, 2024, when Saadaoui was apprehended while trying to receive firearms and ammunition during the . Sky News reported that footage from police body cameras captured armed officers detaining him immediately following the transfer.
Sky News also noted that intelligence sources indicated MI5 suspected Saadaoui had earlier communicated with a British radical who departed the U.K. to join ISIS in 2013.
Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC informed the jury that the scheme “hardly had the innocence of a teddy bear picnic,” characterizing it as an intentional effort to cause extensive civilian deaths, Sky News reported.
The triggered distressing recollections in a city that has already endured significant terrorist incidents.
Manchester was the location of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, where an ISIS-inspired suicide attacker murdered 22 individuals at a music event, representing the most lethal terrorist incident in the U.K. since the July 7, 2007, attack in London.
More recently, counterterrorism officers dealt with an assault outside a Manchester synagogue in October, when a perpetrator drove into pedestrians and knifed worshippers during Yom Kippur prayers, fatally wounding two Jewish men. U.K. officials classified the event as a terrorist act, Reuters reported.
The CPS stated that the thwarted ISIS-inspired firearms conspiracy focused on a north Manchester district mainly inhabited by the Jewish community, intensifying worries among security authorities about the recurrent targeting of this group.
The guilty verdicts coincide with fresh polling data indicating a severe decline in British Jews’ feelings of safety.
A study released by the Campaign Against Antisemitism in December 2025 discovered that 51% of British Jews lack confidence in their long-term prospects in the United Kingdom. The survey found that 61% had contemplated emigrating within the previous two years, citing .
The poll also revealed that 96% of participants believed Jews are less secure in the U.K. compared to before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist assaults on Israel, while 59% reported avoiding displaying recognizable Jewish symbols in public because of antisemitism concerns.
Trust in law enforcement and the judicial system was similarly poor. Just 14% of respondents felt police sufficiently safeguard Jewish communities, 8% believed the justice system properly penalizes , and 7% thought prosecutors sufficiently pursue perpetrators, according to the Campaign Against Antisemitism.
Reuters contributed to this report.