Anti-Semitism fell in UK from 2015, according to ADL poll

Anti-Semitic attitudes in the UK have fallen slightly since 2015 and are now well below those in France and Germany, according to a new poll from the US-based Anti-Defamation League.

The findings, published in the ADL’s fourth Index of Anti-Semitism, follow studies into the attitudes of people in the three countries, measuring the extent to which they believe anti-Semitic stereotypes, such as Jewish power and influence.

In the UK, the ADL found that ten percent of those polled held anti-Semitic attitudes, a fall from figures released in 2015. It also found that much less people now believe that Jews care more for Israel than they do for Britain.

More than a quarter of respondents felt that there was now more anti-Semitism being voiced in British politics, with 36 percent concerned about left-wing anti-Semitism and 40 percent worried about anti-Semitism from the extreme right.

While almost a third still believed that Jews were more loyal to Israel than they were to the UK, this number has fallen substantially from 41 percent of British respondents answering similarly in 2015.

There was also a stark comparison with Germany in seeking to understand where anti-Semitism comes from: while 26 percent of Germans thought it stemmed from Jews’ behaviour, only 14 percent of Brits agreed.

In other findings, one in five British respondents felt that Jews still talked too much about the Holocaust, whereas in France this was a far more popular sentiment, with almost a third of respondents thinking likewise.

In all three countries, those who felt Israel’s actions had an effect on their thinking about Jews were more likely to hold anti-Semitic attitudes. Equally, the more religiously observant the respondent, the more likely they were to be anti-Semitic.

“From the results, it is clear that anti-Semitic attitudes are less prevalent in the UK than in Germany or France,” said a spokesman for the Community Security Trust.

“It is also clear that anti-Semitic attitudes are falling in the UK, based on data from 2015. However, ten percent of the population in the UK still harbour some form of anti-Semitic view, which is unacceptable.”