The suspect in the stabbing of two Jewish men in north London appeared in court on Friday after being charged with three counts of attempted murder, the third relating to an attack on an acquaintance earlier that same day.

The suspect, Essa Suleiman, 45, is accused of attempting to murder Ishmail Hussein, a man he had known for about 20 years, at Mr. Hussein’s flat in south London on Wednesday morning. The prosecution said that Mr. Suleiman then traveled to Golders Green in north London, where he is accused of attempting to murder two Jewish men — Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76 — with a knife.

Mr. Suleiman, who was born in Somalia and came to Britain as a child, is a British citizen. He appeared in Westminister Magistrates’ Court wearing a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants and was not asked to enter a guilty or innocent plea.

The BBC reported that details of his home address could not be made public because he lived in housing for mental health patients in need of additional support.

In Britain, strict laws prevent the reporting after charges have been filed of anything that could prejudice a jury in a trial.

Mr. Suleiman is scheduled to appear in London’s Central Criminal Court, known as the Old Bailey, on May 15, and he remains in police custody.

On Thursday evening, Britain’s terrorism threat level was raised to “severe.” The adjustment, by Britain’s Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, signifies that an attack is considered “highly likely in the next six months.”

The last time the nationwide threat level was raised to “severe,” the second highest of five standard levels on its scale, was in 2021 after the murder of David Amess, a British lawmaker. The threat level was dropped to “substantial,” the third highest level, four months later, in February 2022.

While the increase came after the Golders Green stabbings, the government emphasized that it was not solely a result of that attack.

“The terrorist threat level in the U.K. has been rising for some time, driven by an increase in broader Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorist threat from individuals and small groups based in the U.K.,” Britain’s Home Office, which oversees national security, said in a statement.

The Home Office also noted that the rising threat level “comes against a backdrop of increased state-linked physical threats, which is encouraging acts of violence, including against the Jewish community.”

Lizzie Dearden contributed reporting.