Nearly one in three Britons ‘hold anti-Semitic views,’ research shows
Nearly a third of Britons have one anti-Semitic opinion or more, and more than half endorse at least one hard-line anti-Israel statement, according to The Institute for Jewish Policy Research (IJPR).
In what it claims is the largest survey of attitudes towards Jews and Israel, the IJPR posed a series of statements including “Jews think they are better than other people,” “Jews exploit Holocaust victimhood for their own purposes” and “Jews get rich at the expense of others” to 5,466 people.
About 30 percent of those surveyed showed “anti-Semitic attitudes at different intensities.”
The study, conducted by both face-to-face interviews and online polling, suggests that an open dislike of Jews is confined to no more than 2.4 percent of British adults.
A further three percent are termed “softer anti-Semites” as they endorsed fewer, but still multiple, anti-Semitic statements. This group is not confident about expressing their anti-Semitic views.
One percent of people said it would be acceptable to be violent towards Jews because of their religious beliefs.
Cases of anti-Semitism are prevalent with those who classify their politics as “very right wing,” the survey shows. The prevalence was considerably higher among right-wingers than on the left.
Researchers also found cases of anti-Semitism were high within the Muslim population of Britain, with 55 percent holding at least one anti-Semitic attitude.
The survey also found unfavorable attitudes to Israel. Questions to participants related to boycotts of goods and products, whether respondents believed Israel was “committing mass murder in Palestine” and on the democratic views of the country.
“The position of the British population towards Israel can be characterized as one of uncertainty or indifference but among those who hold a view, people with sympathies towards the Palestinians are numerically dominant,” the report says.
Six percent of Britons believe Israel has no right to exist, and fewer than 10 percent back the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
In December 2016, the government adopted an internationally recognized definition of anti-Semitism: “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.”
