There has never been any doubt about the real motivation behind the hate marches organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. But if further proof was needed of their intent, the PSC’s reaction to the Metropolitan Police’s minor route change to the planned march on January 18 was conclusive.

To recap: after over a year of the Met taking a soft policing approach to the marches, no matter how frightening the presence of tens – even hundreds – of thousands of fanatical anti-Israel protesters has been for many Jews, it has finally demanded that the next march leaves Jews alone. The PSC have been ordered to change the assembly point so that congregants attending Central Synagogue are free from intimidation by protesters travelling to the march. Over the past year, the synagogue has had to shorten and cancel services. Many congregants have simply stayed away as they are too intimidated to run the gauntlet of the protesters.

The route change ordered by the police is a minor tweak that in no way restricts the protesters from marching. It simply seeks to minimise the impact on Jews going about their business on Shabbat. But the organisers have said that they will ignore the police’s demand. Let us be clear what this means: the PSC considers that the need for them to be able to intimidate Jews is more important than obeying the law.

Two points are now vital. First, the police must stand firm and not cave in to pressure from the PSC. The Met lost the confidence of the Jewish community by its gentle approach towards the management of the marches last year. This route change has gone some small way towards restoring that confidence.

But it is also essential that, if the PSC does break the law and ignores the police’s new assembly point, those involved are arrested and punished. To date, the Gaza marchers have often behaved with impunity. That must stop.