OPINION: Should we be grateful that Israel claims to have our backs?

Isaac Herzog, Israel’s President, is the grandson of one of Israel’s great Chief Rabbis, the son of a President, by all accounts a fine lawyer and an honourable man. As a politician, however, he seems to have a tin ear.

Having just completed his visit to the United Kingdom, he left a message to British Jewry ‘we have your back’ – presumably referring to the rise in antisemitism in this country. We need not worry, Israel is there to protect us. We are supposed, I presume, to be grateful.

But do we need this? It is now more than one hundred and fifty years since British Jews like Jews in most Western democracies were granted equal political and civil rights. For a long time there was a theory, associated with historians like Michael Sacher and Salo Baron, that these rights were part of a tacit contract whereby Jews became equal citizens on the basis that they behaved themselves ,were loyal to this country, and did not make trouble.

Now this theory is completely out of fashion, Jews like the many other religious and ethnic groups in the UK  have civil rights because they  are entitled to them as citizens of a democratic state, not as a result of a gracious favour bestowed on them by a kindly government.

These rights have been enshrined in law by various acts of Parliament such as the Race Relations Act and the Equality Act. This exemplifies the decline of deference in our political life noted by numerous historians and sociologists such as Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, Seymour Lipset and others.

If we have this protection under law, what can the Israeli government do for us? If Jews were under physical attack here Israel could hardly send troops over here to protect us.

Possibly if Jewish practices like shechita or brit milah, were under threat, then Israel could intervene. But there is almost no prospect in the UK, where all parties are deeply committed to freedom of religion, of any government seeking to undermine practices which are sacred not just to the Jews  but also to the Muslims who outnumber us ten to one.

In any case state sovereignty has been a fundamental feature of international law for almost four centuries. Apart also therefore from the practical difficulties, there is no way that the Israeli government could use force against the UK or any of its citizens to protect Jews in this country from violence or state discrimination.

Of course Israel could provide a refuge for Jews who needed to flee this country. If this became necessary. Indeed the ability to do so is part of Israel’s raison d’être enshrined in its constitution. Although reliable statistics are hard to come by, it seems that that last year approximately 570 UK Jews made Aliyah; i.e. a little under 0.2% of the Jewish population here – hardly a mass exodus.

And there has been traffic the other way . Israelis have been moving to countries all over Europe and thereby incidentally rejuvenating their Jewish communities. It is estimated that Israelis number 82,700 across Europe. UK alone now has at least 23.000 Israeli-born Jews. They have brought their own customs, religious and secular, cuisine, general culture and a newspaper. They serve as teachers, rabbis chaplains, academics, restauranteurs and traders in Judaica as well as entrepreneurs and professionals.

It is difficult to tell what motivates people to emigrate. In our ever shrinking and globalised world, migration is naturally becoming more common. Economic prospects are a main factor. In some cases particularly in the last century persecution has been a factor. It clearly is not now.as the figures show.

Antisemitic incidents are up, but the number of these that are violent is still insignificant. The number of Jews killed in this country, for being Jewish, since Jews returned here in 1656 three hundred and sixty years ago is far fewer than the number killed each year in Israel.

The Jewish press has conducted a relentless campaign week after week to make us feel unsafe in this country. Their efforts have met with the failure they deserve. May they long continue to do so. Whilst we live in a democratic multi-cultural society let us continue to celebrate it.

• Vivian Wineman is the former President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and a trustee of the Wineman Charitable Foundation.