Antisemitism, Israel and Tommy Robinson: what young British Jews are thinking

Young British Jews across the political spectrum are deeply concerned by rising antisemitism, are angry at outsiders considering them responsible for the actions of the Israeli government and have deep suspicions about the motives of Tommy Robinson, according to new data.

A series of focus groups, conducted in October by More in Common for Jewish News, also showed widespread distrust of mainstream media and the feeling the government made a mistake in recognising a Palestinian state when it did.

The aim of the groups was to discover how Jews aged 15-25 are feeling in the UK today, representing those from across the country who had attended both Jewish and secular schools, and those affiliated with different denominations, as well as none at all.

Each group had 10 people; two of the focus groups included self-identified Zionists only, and the other two included those who said they were non-Zionist, anti-Zionist, or did not know.

All the focus groups identified deep concern with rising antisemitism in the UK, though responses from individuals differed.

While many spoke about concealing outward signs of their Jewish identity, such as religious symbols, others said that hostility made them even more determined to publicly show their Jewishness.

Likewise, both Zionists and others disliked that strangers would make assumptions about their worldviews or blame them for the actions of the Israeli government simply because they were Jewish.

Almost every participant in every focus group viewed Tommy Robinson as a bad ally. Some felt that he was aligning with Israel simply to signal that he was anti-Muslim, while even others who agreed with his views on Israel feared he would tarnish the reputation of pro-Israel people more widely.

A small minority felt positively towards him as someone standing up for Israel at a time when relatively few non-Jewish British people seemed prepared to do so.

At the same time, young Jews across the board – even among those most sympathetic to the Palestinians – felt the Government had moved to recognise a Palestinian state at the wrong time.

They felt the timelines did not make sense, and that simply recognising a state would not will one into existence, when on the ground so many key features of a state were missing.

Mistrust of legacy media, particularly the BBC, was high – with Zionist voices in particular highlighting specific examples of perceived BBC anti-Israel bias.

Outlets such as GB News, social media, and family and friends were all cited as alternative sources of information.

Where the Zionist groups differed with the other groups was primarily in perceptions of Israel – including on the very definition of “Zionist” itself. Zionists were far more likely to identify Zionism as straightforwardly meaning that Jewish people have a right to a homeland and a state of their own.

By this definition, most pro-Israel participants could not understand why anyone would oppose Zionism, and many argued that opposing the Jewish right to self-determination was inherently antisemitic. They were also extremely critical of “anti-Zionists” who they thought harmed Jews around the world.

By contrast, the other groups were particularly reluctant to adopt either “Zionist” or “anti-Zionist” as labels, describing these terms as “harsh”, “polarizing”, and presenting a false binary that failed to capture the nuance of their views.

Several explained that while they could see merit in the concept of a safe haven for Jewish people, they did not feel personally connected to Israel and were deeply critical of its government’s actions. Many thought that saying they were Zionist would imply they supported the current Government of Israel.

On the question of that government, the Zionist groups did not think Israel had acted perfectly throughout the current conflict, although they felt that some of the reported actions of the Israeli government had been exaggerated by the UK media. The other groups were far more ready to criticise the Israeli government’s conduct.

Those with the strongest connections to Israel were the most likely to consider moving there in the future – with an emphasis on being able to safely express themselves as Jews. By contrast, those who had less of a connection to Israel felt that despite rising antisemitism, the UK was still safe for Jewish people.