Antisemitism Barometer

Since 2015, Campaign Against Antisemitism has conducted annual research into the prevalence of antisemitism in Britain, and sentiment amongst British Jews. Every year, we commission the UK’s leading polling company, YouGov, to poll the British population about their attitudes towards Jewish people, and separately we work with polling professionals and partners within the Jewish community to carry our own poll of British Jews to determine how antisemitism affects them.

60%

of the British far-left believe at least one antisemitic stereotype, which is worse than the far-right

42%

of British Jews have considered leaving Britain in the past two years due to antisemitism

1 in 5

British Jews think the authorities are doing enough

2018-2019 2016-2017 2015

The most recent edition of the Antisemitism Barometer was published on 30th November 2019, including new data from four polls conducted in 2018 and 2019. You can read the foreword below, or download the full report.

Foreword

Britain stands at a crossroads.

This tolerant nation which has long been among the best places in the world in which to live as a Jew is being poisoned by antisemitism, and British Jews are considering leaving the country on a scale unprecedented since mediaeval times.

Incitement against Jews is proliferating, antisemitic crime is going unpunished, and in our politics Jew-hatred is becoming commonplace. This study has measured the results: a population in which antisemitic views have currency, and a Jewish community that has lost faith in the criminal justice system and politicians to protect it from racists, and now fears for its very future in our country.

This comprehensive study, designed and analysed by one of the foremost academics in his field, reveals shocking truths about our country.

Antisemitism on the far-left now exceeds antisemitism on the far-right. The leader of the once fiercely anti-racist Labour Party is now the candidate of choice for anti-Jewish racists, and 84% of British Jews feel that he is a threat specifically to Jews. Two in five British Jews have considered leaving the UK over antisemitism in the past two years alone, 85% of them because of antisemitism in politics, with two thirds expressly mentioning the Labour Party or its leader as their reason.

And it is not merely a political crisis. Jews are fearful of antisemitic crime, with not even one in five saying that the authorities do enough. Years of failure to prosecute hate crime against Jews have demolished confidence in the criminal justice system. Just over a third of Jews have any confidence that the authorities would prosecute the perpetrator of a hate crime against them, even if there was sufficient evidence to do so.

The Crown Prosecution Service has lost the faith of two thirds of Jews, and almost half of British Jews who would normally wear outward signs of their Judaism now try not to show that they are Jewish in public.

The solutions are simple. We have been making the same recommendations for years and they are included in this report. The question is whether our political parties will act on them. But we cannot wait any longer. Our study finds that the majority in this country are decent people who reject antisemitism. We need ordinary people, regardless of politics, race or religion, to tell the Jewish community that we all stand together against antisemitism, and to tell their politicians that they will not stand by as Britain’s Jews become fearful and increasingly contemplate emigration. We have set up TogetherAgainstAntisemitism.com so that people can easily show their support.

It is up to all of us to ensure that Britain stands on the right side of history. We must demand action from our politicians, and we must ensure that Britain’s Jews are not abandoned to the forces of hatred.

It is not only Britain that stands at a crossroads. Now that you have read this, you do too.

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The most recent edition of the Antisemitism Barometer was published on 20th August 2017, including new data from four polls conducted in 2016 and 2017. You can read the foreword below, or download the full report.

Video

Foreword

This research is both harrowing and uplifting. Whilst for the past three years antisemitic crime has broken records every year, and antisemitism scandals have repeatedly rocked our politics, British society has mounted an astounding insurgency against antisemitism. Even as anti-Jewish racism made the headlines, British people appear to have taken the opportunity to shun the ancient anti-Jewish prejudices that some had acquired.

We now have data that show that in a very British way, fairly and quietly, Britons have been rejecting antisemitic prejudice. British society has shunned a growing worldwide addiction to antisemitism and proved that so-called British values are no mere buzzphrase, but are embedded in our national being.

And yet, despite that inspiring progress, British Jews are growing more fearful because our authorities fail to enforce the law and our politics is punctuated by the repeated exposure of antisemites.

Our research shows that one in three British Jews has become so fearful of mounting antisemitic crime and the failure to excise antisemites from politics that they have considered leaving Britain altogether. Just as British people increasingly reject antisemitism, British Jews are feeling unprotected and hounded out due to the failure of our institutions to protect the many from the few racists among us.

We have worked with YouGov and partners in the Jewish community to survey both the British population as a whole and the British Jewish community. The data in this report begs the question: if British society can fight antisemitism, why are our world-renowned criminal justice system and some of our famous political parties still doing too little?

Our research clearly shows that British Jews have pointed their fingers at the Crown Prosecution Service and the Labour Party. For years, Campaign Against Antisemitism has made simple recommendations, such as providing training to prosecutors and ensuring transparency in the disciplinary processes of political parties. British society is achieving what many said was impossible and is rolling back antisemitism. It is high time for our criminal justice system and politicians to take the comparatively easy steps recommended in this report. There is not a moment to lose. Without urgent change, British Jews may start to leave.

Our research also contains a lesson for the Jewish community. Some claim that talking about antisemitism inspires more of it, but that view shows no faith in British society. Antisemitism has been in the headlines regularly for two years. It has given our countrymen the opportunity to think about antisemitism, and they are rejecting it.

Response

There can never be an excuse for hatred towards the Jewish community and wherever we find it, we will oppose it and challenge it…This Conservative Government will always stand together with the British Jewish community to keep it safe and to defeat the scourge of antisemitism — defending our British values of tolerance and respect for others.

The Rt Hon. Sajid Javid MPSecretary of State for Communities and Local Government

Modern antisemitism has been allowed to flourish in the left of British politics, unchallenged by the Labour leadership, this report is a wake-up call. They cannot continue to be half-hearted in their approach, the time has come to root antisemitism out of British life.

The Rt Hon. Sir Eric PicklesUK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues

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The first edition of the Antisemitism Barometer was published on 13th January 2015. You can read the foreword below, or download the full report.

Video

Foreword

The Annual Antisemitism Barometer is the largest study of its kind. It reveals both the scale of antisemitic sentiment in Britain, and its effect on the increasingly-threatened British Jewish population.

Whilst antisemitism in Britain is not yet at the levels seen in most of Europe, the results of our survey should be a wakeup call. Britain is at a tipping point: unless antisemitism is met with zero tolerance, it will continue to grow and British Jews may increasingly question their place in their own country.

The year 2014 saw a record-breaking number of antisemitic incidents perpetrated against Jewish people and Jewish property in Britain. Antisemitism is usually most visible in Great Britain during crises involving Israel, but the sentiment behind it does not simply disappear when the crises end.

The Mayor of London’s office recently revealed that in July 2014, when fighting between Israel and Hamas peaked, the Metropolitan Police Service recorded its worst ever month for hate crime in London, 95% of which was antisemitic hate crime directly related to fighting between Israel and Hamas.

It was in response to this record-breaking wave of antisemitism that in August 2014, the Campaign Against Antisemitism organised a grassroots-led movement dedicated to identifying and combatting antisemitism of both a classical ethno-religious nature and also a political nature related to Israel.

Some antisemitic views may be totally unintentional but are no less offensive for it. Many people in the UK have simply never met Jewish people, and might have stereotypical ideas of them. This is a smaller problem which simply needs better education and discussion so that people can appreciate that, as with any minority group, Jewish people are not defined only by their religion or race. ‘Unintentional’ stereotypes should be highlighted more often, and those espousing them will be able to better understand that they are offensive.

To effectively fight antisemitism we must examine both its origins and its consequences. It is our hope that this study will shed light on both of these aspects of this pernicious form of racism, in order that we can reduce its presence in British society. Antisemitism is not a problem only for Jewish people, but for all of Britain, which must uphold its tradition of tolerance and pluralism.

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Campaign Against Antisemitism is a volunteer-led charity dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of the law. Everything that we do is done by people who volunteer their time, using donations contributed by members of the public. Join the fight against antisemitism by subscribing to our updates, volunteering, or donating.