Will the UK Election Be a Calamity for British Jews?

Just over 50 years ago in the UK, a general election was held that principally was about one issue — should the striking coal miners be paid more money?

The election was called largely as a result of the country not having enough power to make everything work. The Conservative government of the day, under Edward Heath, had tried to keep the economy going by introducing a three-day week. Essentially, because the manufacturing industry relied so heavily on electricity (produced by coal fire power stations) and there wasn’t enough to go around, the three day week was brought in to allow all industries to keep going, albeit on a reduced basis.

I also remember that domestic homes experienced power cuts, so that during the day, a home had to operate on a three hour power-on, three hour power-off routine, again to save energy. The choice for British voters in 1974 was clear: Vote Labour, who would pay the striking miners what they demanded and see a return to normalcy, or vote Conservative and carry on as we were, power cuts and all. Despite mixed election results, Labour eventually took the leadership reins.

Now, 50 years later, UK Jews are facing a similar scenario, only if more subtle.

At present, the Conservative government has been rock solid in its support for the UK Jewish community. There is little doubt that if they were returned to power in July, that this support would remain undiminished. The leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, has been resolute in his determination to root out antisemitism in his party. While there have been a number of high profile cases where party members have been suspended or expelled because of their anti-Jewish activity, there remains a general disquiet about what will happen if they gain power (Labour are currently tipped to win).

The problem for the Jews is more complex than who becomes prime minister. There is a disturbing number of Labour MPs and supporters who demonstrate a visceral loathing of Israel, and cheerfully claim that their actions have nothing to do with the massive increase in antisemitism. The same people insist that the marches through London by pro-Palestinian protesters are just that, and myopically refuse to acknowledge the influence of pro-Hamas supporters and radical religious extremists who are determined to destroy not only Israel, but the West as well.

By way of horrific example, on the October 15, 2023, some eight days after the murderous assault by Hamas, Ahmed Alid, a Moroccan asylum-seeker, stabbed a 70 year old British man to death in revenge for Israel’s war against Hamas. Alid told police after his arrest that he’d killed 70-year-old Terence Carney in the northeast England town of Hartlepool because “Israel had killed innocent children.” “They killed children and I killed an old man,” he said during questioning.

This is not to paint all pro-Palestinian protestors as extremists — but there have literally been tens of thousands of people chanting in the streets to support Hamas, and calling for the elimination of Israel (and presumably, the extermination of all the Jews there). There have been countless hate crimes directed at Jews — a fact that is not in dispute.

The seriousness of the support for Hamas and terrorism has been completely ignored by Labour. Supporting Hamas and Islamic terrorism (as these protestors have done) has nothing to do with supporting the creation of a Palestinian state next to an Israeli one. It is an attack on all decent people everywhere, and it’s a problem that has spiraled out of control.

And don’t let these people confuse you and claim it’s all about Israel. Where were all the Labour Party members marching in support of the hundreds of thousands of civilians massacred in Syria, or those currently dying in massive numbers in Sudan and across the world?

Those protests never happened because Jews couldn’t be blamed for it. It’s this double standard that UK Jews understand, and that makes them fearful about the country we have called a home for centuries.

There are some constituencies up and down the UK where the Muslim vote could make a difference. There are already two self-declared Muslim lobby groups formed to do just that — making it clear to candidates that if they don’t oppose Israel, those candidates will lose votes. And there are many more Muslims in the UK than there are Jews. Can we really trust that politicians will not give in to this pressure?

The connection between hatred of Israel and attacks on Jews in the UK has been well reported over many years, particularly when a conflict is underway. There is now a perfect storm of the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, a Labour Party likely to gain power, and members of that party determined to ostracize Israel and all who support her. As the saying goes, this is an election like no other.

Robert Festenstein is a lawyer and President of the Zionist Central Council in Manchester, UK.