One year on, this is what British Jews think of Israel’s war on Palestine
As the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ massacre in southern Israel on October 7 approaches, the approval rating of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has deteriorated — both in Israel and abroad.
More than 11 months into the war in Gaza, the death toll among Palestinians has surpassed 41,000. Further north, there has been almost daily cross-border fire between Israeli forces and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, raising fears of an all-out Middle East war.
Meanwhile, a total of 101 people are still being held hostage by Hamas. At least six other are believed to have been killed by airstrikes on the besieged enclave.
Netanyahu has failed to negotiate a ceasefire deal and many Israelis now accuse him of sabotaging talks.
In the last 24 hours, Israel admitted that it is ‘highly probable’ its forces killed three hostages by mistake.
A new report by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) determined it is failures like these that have contributed to British Jews’ ‘significant disapproval’ of the current Israeli leadership.
Based on the most recent data, 80% either ‘strongly’ or ‘somewhat’ disapprove of
Netanyahu, and just 12% strongly or somewhat approve.
In addition, 74% of Jews in the UK view Israel’s overall situation in a negative light, a figure nearly 10%higher than Israelis’ view of their country.
This is significantly worse than a year previously, reflecting the crisis of October 7, the extended captivity of the hostages, and the ongoing war in Gaza.
The Strictly Orthodox, men, and people who voted for right-wing parties in the last UK election were the most likely groups to view Israeli government policies more positively.
JPR’s executive director, Dr Jonathan Boyd: ‘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 Netanyahu and even higher levels for the hard-right members of his coalition, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar BenGvir.
‘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.’
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