British Jews abandoning Labour Party in droves

Nathan Cheiman

In a recent poll published in the London Jewish Chronicle, only 8,5 per cent of British Jewish voters would vote Labour if there was a general election tomorrow.

Rows over comments made by members were allegedly improperly dealt with. 

Two Labour councillors were suspended in May for posting anti-Semitic comments on Facebook. One councillor, Salim Mulla, called for Jews to “relocate” to America, while another, Ilyas Aziz, posted offensive images calling for Jews to “stop drinking Gaza blood”. 

A Jewish MP, Ruth Smeeth, who walked out of Labour’s anti-Semitism report launch, said that the party was not a safe place for Jews.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has also deemed some of the comments made by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, “offensive”.

To add insult to injury, human rights lawyer Shami Chakrabarti, was tasked with conducting an enquiry into anti-Semitism within Labour, and her report concluded that the Labour Party was not overrun by anti-Semitism or any other form of racism. This shocked Jewish members who accused her of “sweeping these maladies under the carpet”.

Moreover, the peerage offered and accepted by her from Corbyn was widely criticised by British Jews and by the Board of Deputies’ vice president, Marie van Zyl, who said: “The report which was considered weak in several areas, now seems to have been rewarded with an honour.”

Indeed, even Tom Watson, deputy leader of Labour, slammed Corbyn’s nomination for Chakrabarti to be elevated to the House of Lords.

The Zionist Federation of Great Britain has said that the peerage would only serve to worsen ties between Labour and the British Jewish community.

While 15,1 per cent of Jews voted Labour in 2015, it is becoming clear that the Labour Party, under Corbyn, has lost almost 50 per cent of its Jewish voters this year.

Northcliff, Johannesburg