Journalist Andrew Neil has hit out at “hard left Corbynista” politics as posing the “biggest threat” to British Jews.
Speaking to a sold-out crowd at Bushey United Synagogue, the former Sunday Times editor said when he was younger antisemitism largely came from “the knuckle dragging hard right… the scum of our society.”
Now the hard left, fuelled by identity politics and a “visceral hatred” of Israel, are a greater danger, argued Mr Neil.
He said that while the departure of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had dissipated this threat, it was still there, with anti-Jewish hate incidents rising year on year.
In part this was due to the rise of identity politics, which “poisons our discourse,” he said.
“It emphasises what makes us different and deemphasises what brings us together. That is dangerous in politics and it is a reason why antisemitism is not going away.”
Also to blame was a rejection of Israel “that is easily tipped over into antisemitism.”
“It will be fought,” the veteran political journalist concluded.
“You will fight it, but you won’t be alone. We’ll all be fighting it, and we’re going to win.”
Mr Neil also discussed the future of Israel, arguing that the Gulf monarchies will increasingly come to align with the Jewish state as they view it as a vital ally against Iran.
The United Arab Emirates was happy to normalise diplomatic relations with Israel as they aspire to become like them, and Saudi Arabia will soon follow, he predicted.
Answering a question on social media regulation, Mr Neil said online platforms were “a cesspit” that gave antisemites a greater platform than ever before.
He called upon politicians to change the law and treat social media platforms as publishers, holding them accountable for hate speech propagated on their websites.
The shul’s Senior Rabbi, Elchonon Feldman, told the JC Mr Neil’s “honest and direct talk” included “a frank acknowledgement that antisemitism is not going away and that it must be fought.”
“He heartwarmingly concluded though that the Jewish community would not have to fight alone as we can always depend on the like minded British people to stand side by side with us."
