Three-quarters of UK Jews disapprove of Netanyahu
New JPR survey gives gloomy view of situation in Israel as viewed from Britain
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
An astonishing four in five British Jews hold an unfavourable opinion of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, according to a new report by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR).
Among the key findings in What do Jews in the UK think about Israel and its leaders, and how has this changed since October 7?, are that 74 per cent of Jews in the UK describe Israel’s situation as “bad” (37 per cent) or “very bad” (also 37 per cent), increasing from 57 per cent measured in Apr/May 2023. Additionally, the report finds, British Jews think things are worse in Israel than Israelis themselves.
The survey, written by JPR’s senior research fellow, Dr Carli Lessof, with JPR intern Roy Shinar Cohen, was conducted among 4,500 adult British Jews. Those surveyed were members of the JPR Research Panel and those who responded to the June and July 2024 JPR Current Affairs Survey.
Overall, the report reveals that levels of pessimism about Israel’s current situation have increased significantly among British Jews when compared to data gathered before the October 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza.
The report provides an early look at one area explored in the survey; full results are scheduled for release at the beginning of October to mark the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
Ninety-five per cent of adult British Jews have an opinion on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most widely known leader among those examined. Four in five Jews — (80 per cent) — hold an unfavourable opinion of him, with 65 per cent saying they “strongly disapprove” and 15 per cent saying they “somewhat” disapprove of him.
Respondents were asked their opinion of six Israeli politicians: Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, defence minister Yoav Gallant and former Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister Benny Gantz. Loweringly, the report notes a lack of familiarity by British Jews with both Gallant and Gantz, despite their key positions in Israeli politics.
But the report indicates a high disapproval rating for Smotrich at minus 78 per cent, followed by minus 77 per cent for Ben-Gvir and minus 68 per cent for Netanyahu.
Yair Lapid (+12 per cent) and former Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister Benny Gantz (+10 per cent) are the only two leaders showing positive net ratings among those examined, and Lapid is the only leader examined showing an increase in net approval rate compared to data from before October 7.
Unsurprisingly, politically right-leaning Jews were much more likely to approve of Netanyahu than those who are left-leaning. The report says: “Jews who lean to the political right (based on voting intentions and voting in the recent UK election) are more than six times as likely than those who lean to the political left to have a favourable view of the situation in Israel, and men are three times as likely as women to have a positive view.
“People who identify as Zionist and Strictly Orthodox people are also more likely than other groups to do so. Conversely, certain groups are more likely to identify Israel’s situation as bad than others, including those who have a political leaning to the left, women, those belonging to Progressive synagogues and older people”.
Additionally, “Jews in the UK who intended to vote in the 2024 election for either the Conservative Party or Reform UK, were over 22 times more likely to approve of Netanyahu than those who voted for all other political parties”. And for that matter, “members of the Strictly Orthodox community were over three times more likely than other denominations, or those with no religious affiliation, to approve of Netanyahu, and over twice as likely to approve of Smotrich, while also being over twice as likely to disapprove of Lapid”.
JPR’s executive director, Dr Jonathan Boyd, said: “The Jewish community in the UK holds strong ties and attachments to Israel, and the events of the past year have affected British Jews very deeply. In many respects, we can see that they feel closer to Israel now than they did before October 7.
“Still, as this report demonstrates, we are also seeing high levels of disapproval for Prime Minister Netanyahu and even higher levels for the hard-right members of his coalition, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. As much as Israel matters to British Jews, many are expressing clear concern about its current political leadership.
“This dissonance is fundamental to understand from a policy perspective – it hints at the evolving nature of British Jewry’s relationship with Israel, which we will be reporting on and discussing in considerably greater detail over the coming weeks.”
More findings from the JPR Jewish Current Affairs Survey will be published in early October 2024. The report will look at the changing nature of British Jews’ political views about Israel, how secure British Jews feel living in post-October 7 Britain, and how the current war is affecting British Jews’ feelings of attachment to Israel and Jewish life in the UK.
The findings will also form the basis of a new series of the JPR/JW3 Jews Do Count podcast, which will be available on all leading podcast platforms in early October.
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