British Jews remain deeply connected to Israel even as they despair of its actions

Mar 4, 2024 by Jill

By Lianne Kolirin, Religion Media Centre:

In a recent article for The Guardian, columnist Jonathan Freedland tried to explain “why it’s hard, if not impossible, wholly to disentangle antisemitism from Israel”.

Freedland said: “Most — not all — Jews feel bound up with the country.”

It is a statement strongly backed up by the data. In its most recent report — admittedly carried out before the Hamas attacks of 7 October — the Institute of Jewish Policy Research (JPR) revealed that “73 per cent of British Jews feel either very attached (41 per cent) or somewhat attached (32 per cent) to Israel”.

The study, Jews in the UK Today, showed that 88 per cent of British Jews had visited Israel at some time. For many, the connection is almost like a family relationship — it’s complicated.

As Freedland wrote: “They may be enraged by it, they may despair at the direction it has taken these past few months — or even these past 57 years, since the occupation that began as a result of the 1967 war — but they are deeply connected to it.”

Jonathan Boyd, executive director of JPR, gave the Religion Media Centre a detailed explanation of the close links between the British Jewish community, its cultural identity and Israel.

“For most British Jews, Israel forms an important, even central part of their Jewishness,” he said. “It has tremendous theological significance — it has played a key place in Jewish liturgy for millennia and has long been the focus of Jewish prayer — Jews pray towards Jerusalem.”

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