Zac Goldsmith, one of the two front-runners to become next Mayor of London after elections next month, declared: ‘’If I am elected mayor I will give police the tools they need to keep us safe. I will instruct the Metropolitan Police to take a zero tolerance approach to any form of hate crime— and I’ll back security at any Jewish school or synagogue where the need is real.”

During a debate with other candidates organized by the London Jewish Forum and Jewish News at the JW3, the British capital’s Jewish community center, Goldsmith insisted that the dominating issue in London was “the rise of anti-Semitism and the threat of terrorism.”

He also pointed to the situation of Jews in France, many of whom had come to London in the wake of terror attacks.

The 41-year-old Goldsmith, who since 2010, has represented Richmond Park as its Member of Parliament, responding to a question about too few places for Jewish children in faith schools, said it was in the mayor’s gift to make land available for schools building.

Earlier, the Conservative candidate had pledged to protect the capital’s Jewish community following a tour of Stamford Hill’s Orthodox community during which he met rabbis and community leaders.

Goldsmith is the middle child of Sir James Goldsmith, a member of the prominent Goldsmith family of German Jewish descent.

He said he understood British Jews’ concerns on issues including security. “The concerns that have come up in every meeting I’ve had – whether tiny in people’s homes, or public meetings, or at events – security obviously is the main issue that comes up every time, hate crime comes up and Israel comes up as an issue often.

“Those people want to know that the next mayor of London is going to build on the relationship between London and Tel Aviv… they want to know City Hall will not become a place where boycott, divestment and sanctions gains legitimacy. That’s a concern people have. It’s raised all the time.’’

The other front-runner candidate, Labour MP Sadiq Khan, who leads in the polls, spoke during the debate of the “badge of shame” he wears at some of the anti-Semitism emanating from parts of the Labour Party.

He said, “It is unacceptable in 2016 to have anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. It is with sorrow that I wear that badge of shame. We need not just to talk the talk, but to walk the walk —there should be no hierarchy of racism. If it means senior members of my party, or members of the NEC (the National Executive Committee, Labour’s governing body) being trained in what antisemitism is, then so be it.”

The candidates were asked questions from the audience about BDS and boycott or Israel Apartheid Week held at university campuses, the Jewish News reported.

While all of them condemned the manifestations of anti-Semitism — with Zac Goldsmith warning that he believed BDS was a “cover” for vehement hatred and that such hatred was even more dangerous on social media — there seemed some doubt as to what the powers of the London mayor were.

Sadiq Khan, while denouncing antisemitism repeatedly, made it clear that “as London mayor I will not offer a running commentary on the Middle East peace process.”

Last month, Khan was forced to explain why he had lobbied for sanctions against Israel before changing his stance to oppose boycotts of the country.

The other mayoral candidates are ib Dem’s Caroline Pidgeon, UKIP’s Peter Whittle and Jonathan Bartley for the Green Party.

The next mayor will succeed Conservative Boris Johnson.