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Yoni Finlay, who survived the Manchester synagogue attack, has expressed that he no longer feels safe living in the UK after learning about a separate, thwarted plot that could have endangered him once again. In October 2025, during the deadly assault at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue where two people lost their lives, Finlay was accidentally shot by a stray police bullet while trying to barricade the doors. Having grown up in the area, he had long feared that such an attack might occur in his community.
Unbeknownst to Finlay, an earlier plan to carry out a violent assault on Jews in Manchester was prevented by undercover police. According to prosecutors, two men had coordinated to smuggle firearms into the UK as part of an “Isis-inspired plot.” Their intended target was a march against antisemitism scheduled for the summer of 2024, after which they planned to continue their attacks by targeting Jewish neighborhoods in north Manchester. Saadaoui, one of the men involved, was recorded stating, “Here in Manchester we have the biggest Jewish community [outside of London]. We will carry out here.” He even led an undercover officer to scout specific Jewish community areas in the city following the planned march.
Finlay had attended the march against antisemitism in Manchester in summer 2024 along with thousands of others and was unaware at the time that a violent attack aimed at this event had been prevented. He only discovered this after his hospitalization following the synagogue shooting. Reflecting on the situation, he remarked, “I think for everybody there was an element of it was going to happen because antisemitism has been allowed to grow and fester and become normalised.” Finlay also referenced a previous march held earlier that year in January, noting a persistent undercurrent of hatred and antisemitism that permeates daily life in the community.
Expressing the personal impact of this environment, Finlay said, “My son won’t walk down the street wearing a kippah in case he’s identified as Jewish, he has had threats, he has had things shouted at him.” Despite being a lifelong resident of Manchester and a devoted Manchester United fan, Finlay conveyed a profound sense of alienation, saying, “This is where I feel I belong but at the same time it’s not safe for us.” Nevertheless, he remains resolute in refusing to let fear control his life or allow hatred and terrorism to prevail. Meanwhile, the two men behind the thwarted plot, Walid Saadaoui and Amar Hussein, were sentenced to life imprisonment with minimum terms of 37 and 26 years respectively for preparing acts of terrorism between December 2023 and May 2024. Saadaoui’s younger brother, Bilel, was also convicted and received a six-year sentence for failing to disclose information related to terrorism
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