Jews in the United Kingdom watched voters in their country gravitate to parties on the extreme right and left in the country’s local elections – following a campaign where antisemitism was used as a political football, and controversies over the government’s relationship with Israel, pro-Palestinian protests and free speech factored into voting.
On the Haaretz Podcast, London-based correspondent Hagar Shezaf and senior analyst Esther Solomon discuss the impact of the results, which have been described as an “earthquake” for its rejection of the Labour Party led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
While covering the campaign, Shezaf said, she encountered a voter who told her “I voted for Labour my whole life. I won't be doing that anymore because of Gaza and Iran.”
The surge in support for the far-right anti-immigrant Reform U.K. party, Solomon observed, “leaves Jews in a very, very difficult position” as the party and its leader, Brexit architect Nigel Farage, made multiple bids for Jewish support during the campaign – including in the aftermath of the stabbing attacks in the Jewish neighborhood of Golders Green on April 29.
“Reform really wanted to put over the message that it was there to ‘look after’ the Jews – by cracking down on what it calls an invasion of migrants … and on the Muslim community of the U.K. … but it’s not just about protecting the Jews. It's putting them up on a pedestal in order to stamp on all sorts of other minorities.”
On the left, Solomon said the newly resurgent Green Party – led by leader Zack Polanski – “were not willing to really confront the issue of antisemitism, and constantly tried and deflect to the idea that is all about their criticism of Israel, and that they refuse to be silenced.”
Read more:
Analysis by Esther Solomon on Britain's Nationalist Surge: It's Not Only Reform's Farage That Disunites the Kingdom
How Antisemitism Can Push British Jews Into the Arms of Farage and the Far Right
Cheers for Reform, Boos for Labour: 5,000 U.K. Jews and Allies Rally in London Against 'Poisonous' Antisemitism
'No Longer Safe to Be Visibly Jewish': After Stabbing Spree, Some British Jews Say It's a Matter of When They Leave, Not If
U.K. Greens' Zack Polanski Discourages 'Globalize the Intifada' Phrase but Opposes Policing It
U.K. Greens' Polanski Slams Starmer for 'Weaponizing' Antisemitism After PM's Rebuke
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