Almost seven in 10 British Jews are concerned about the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn becoming leader of the Labour Party, an exclusive JC poll has revealed.
The frontrunner’s views on Hamas and Hizbollah, and association with Holocaust denier Paul Eisen, have also caused extreme worry — with over 80 per cent saying they are concerned about his positions.
The polling, conducted earlier this week, reveals the depth of anxiety within the Jewish community about Labour’s future direction.
Asked how they feel about Mr Corbyn becoming leader, 67 per cent say they are “concerned”, with only 13 per cent responding “unconcerned”.
Mr Corbyn was the runaway favourite as ballot papers were sent to Labour members this week.
The JC posed seven key questions to the Islington North MP last week about his association with Shoah deniers and antisemites.
Eighty-three per cent of British Jews say they are concerned by comments — which were presented in full to respondents — in which Mr Corbyn referred to terrorist groups Hamas and Hizbollah as “our friends”.
Asked about Mr Corbyn’s links to Eisen, who has questioned the existence of gas chambers during the Shoah, 80 per cent are concerned.
Respondents to the poll were also asked how they feel when politicians described themselves as “anti-Zionist”.
More than 44 per cent say they “always” think such a statement really means “anti-Jewish”, with a further 27 per cent saying they “often” think the claim is antisemitic in its intent.
In total, almost 90 per cent of Jews feel that “anti-Zionist” is used as shorthand for “anti-Jewish” by politicians.
The poll shows that 17 per cent of British Jews would back Andy Burnham to be labour leader, with Yvette Cooper on 12 per cent, Liz Kendall on nine per cent, and Mr Corbyn last on less than five per cent. Almost 58 per cent do not know who would make the best leader.
The poll was carried out for the JC by Survation, which questioned a representative sample of more than 1,000 British Jews on Monday and Tuesday. Almost 63 per cent said they had voted Conservative in May’s general election, with just under 14 per cent having backed Labour.
Read the full results of the Survation poll here.Listen to this week's JC Podcast, where Editor Stephen Pollard talks about Jeremy Corbyn and how our story made the headlines
