British Jews are more than twice as likely to be critical of the Israeli government’s handling of the hostage crisis as to support it, according to new data.
When presented with the statement “Israel’s government has not done enough to release the hostages,” 31 per cent of those who took a view “strongly agreed”, while 40 per cent said they “tend to agree.”
Nearly 30 per cent of respondents indicated support for the response of Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration by disagreeing with the statement.
The data was collected by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research in June and July, before news of the murder of six hostages in Gaza ignited a wave of protests across Israel this week.
Jonathan Boyd, JPR executive director, told the JC: “Most Jews in the UK do not think the Israeli government has done enough to release the hostages. This is particularly the case for those who are more religiously progressive or secular, and those who lean left politically, patterns that are widely seen when looking at British Jewish views on Israeli politics and society more generally.
“However, even among the more religiously and politically conservative, very significant proportions are expressing concern about Israeli government efforts on this particular issue.”
There was a sharp divide between those who identify as right and left wing – with those on the right more likely to support the Israeli government’s actions and those on the left more likely to criticise it.”
JPR surveyed a representative sample of 3,936 Jews living in the UK (JPR)
The findings are part of a wider JPR survey into the the impact of October 7 on British Jewry. The full report is due to be based later this year.
Nearly 4,000 out of JPR’s survey panel of around 4,500 UK Jews ventured an opinion on the Israeli government’s handling of the hostage crisis. The institute did not include the percentages of those who took no view or said they did not know.
The vast majority of left-wing respondents with a view (86 per cent) said the Israeli government had not done enough for the hostages, compared with 50 per cent of right-wingers.
When broken down by voting intention, 51 per cent of Conservative voters thought the Israeli government had not done enough for the hostages, compared with 49 per cent who said the government had done enough.
Among Labour voters, 86 per cent said they agreed with the statement that the government had not done enough, while only 14 per cent disagreed.
Strictly Orthodox Jews were the least likely religious grouping to be critical of the Israeli government, with 56 per cent of respondents disagreeing with the statement.
Progressive and unaffiliated Jews were most likely to show dissatisfaction with the Israeli government.
Nearly a third (32 per cent) of Progressive Jews strongly agreed with the statement and 40 per cent tended to agree with it – compared with 17 per cent who said they tended to disagree with the statement and just five per cent who strongly disagreed.
Dr Boyd said: “With one in eight adult British Jews saying they have at least some family or close friends living in Israel and nine in ten saying they have visited the country once or more, the connections between the UK Jewish community and Israel are strong and clear.
“Drawing on our summer 2024 survey, JPR will shortly be publishing a series of reports and releasing a new series of our podcast, Jews Do Count, looking at how the events of October 7 and the war in Gaza have impacted British Jews’ political views about Israel, their sense of security in Britain, and how attached they feel both to Israel and the UK Jewish community.”
The data was “fundamental to understanding how British Jews feel today”, he said.
