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 out our own poll of British Jews to determine how antisemitism affects them.

11%

of British adults have entrenched antisemitic views

59%

of British Jews believe that they have a long-term future in the UK

1 in 5

British Jews think the authorities are doing enough

202120202018-20192016-20172015

The most recent edition of the Antisemitism Barometer was published on 3rd March 2022, including new data from two polls conducted in 2021. You can read the foreword below, or download the full report.

Foreword

The events of 2021 have left their mark on Britain’s Jews.

For several weeks in May and June, during the conflict between Hamas and Israel thousands of miles away, antisemitism surged on British streets and campuses, online, in workplaces, schools and hospitals and in other institutions. Reported incidents broke records, with some making national headlines and prompting intervention by the Prime Minister.

Among the incidents were demonstrations that featured antisemitic speakers, chants and banners — some of which were endorsed, promoted and addressed by politicians, trade unionists and other luminaires — and convoys that saw allegations of the most despicable antisemitic incitement and violence in Jewish neighbourhoods.

These events weighed on British Jews, with almost eight in ten disclosing in our research that the various demonstrations, processions and convoys during the conflict caused them to feel intimidated as a Jew.

Consequently, there is a noticeable reversal this year in the optimism reflected in polling a year ago. Fewer British Jews believe that their community has a long-term future in the UK, and a record number — nearing half — have disclosed that they avoid displaying outward signs of their Judaism in public due to antisemitism.

Not only do perpetrators of antisemitism give the Jewish community reason for concern, but so does the criminal justice system. The Crown Prosecution Service has always performed poorly in our polling, but for the first time ever, a majority of British Jews do not believe that the police or the courts do enough to protect them either.

Antisemitism this year has also affected how British Jews view wider society. For the first time ever, a majority do not believe that their non-Jewish neighbours do enough to protect them, with many respondents deeply concerned about apathy towards Jews amongst the British public.

As our polling of the British public shows, there is reason for discomfort: almost one quarter of British adults believe that “Israel treats the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews,” which is antisemitic under the International Definition of Antisemitism, and more than one in ten Britons have entrenched antisemitic views.

There are more specific incubators of antisemitism as well. Over eight in ten British Jews still feel that Labour is too tolerant of racism against Jews, belying Sir Keir Starmer’s claim to have “shut the door” on antisemitism in his Party. Almost all British Jews also believe that antisemitism in British universities and on social media is a problem — the first time these issues have been polled — underlining the need for action.

Britain cannot be content when almost half of a long-established minority community avoids disclosing identifying signs in public, or when a broad majority considers one of the two major political parties to be too tolerant of racism. It is not too late to make the right changes in politics, at universities, online and to criminal justice, but the time for action is now.

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The most recent edition of the Antisemitism Barometer was published on 17th January 2021, including new data from two polls conducted in 2020. You can read the foreword below, or download the full report.

Foreword

Britain’s Jews are back from the brink.

Following the crushing electoral rejection and then resignation of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party, this year’s Antisemitism Barometer data shows that two thirds of British Jews now believe that they have a long-term future in the UK and almost three in five now feel welcome in this country.

It is a reflection of the enormity of the underlying problem of antisemitism that these new findings — which still show that almost one fifth of British Jews do not feel welcome in this country — represent such vast improvements on the past two years.

This data indicates that the early signs of returning confidence are due to the removal of the threat that British Jews saw in Mr Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party: of those who have considered leaving the UK in the past two years due to antisemitism, half referenced the defeat of Labour in the 2019 General Election or the removal of Mr Corbyn as its leader as having changed their mind.

Though a large swathe of the Jewish community has breathed a sigh of relief, the news is not entirely good. Nine months into Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of Labour, British Jews still feel that the Party is tolerant of antisemitism (indeed, there has been a slight increase in the proportion of British Jews holding this opinion since last year).

Antisemitism in political parties, online, and in the institutions of civil society have left one fifth of British Jews still feeling unwelcome in this country — a return to the figures we polled in 2016 and 2017, before the Labour antisemitism scandal was fully acknowledged by some in the Jewish community.

Appallingly, almost half of British Jews now conceal visible signs of Judaism in public due to antisemitism — a record figure in our polling.

As our polling of the British public shows, there is reason for discomfort: almost half of the British public affirms at least one of the twelve antisemitic statements in our new Generalised Antisemitism Scale, which has been devised and implemented here for the first time by Dr Daniel Allington of King’s College London, Dr David Hirsh of Goldsmiths, and Louise Katz of the University of Derby.

Long before the rise of Mr Corbyn, Britain’s Jews were rightly concerned about surging antisemitism. Though Britain remains one of the best countries in the world in which to live as a Jew, our already-anxious community has been subjected to a harrowing ordeal by Mr Corbyn and his allies. As the Jewish minority begins to regain confidence, Britain cannot allow itself to be content with a return to a situation that was worrying to begin with.

Though this year’s Antisemitism Barometer shows improving confidence amongst British Jews, no modern, liberal nation should be content when almost a fifth of its Jews feel unwelcome and nearly half conceal their Judaism in public. We need firm action against antisemitism, not just in politics, but also in arenas that have long been problematic, such as universities and social media.

The recommendations made in this report are mostly easy to implement and have been proposed by us for years. They would make a vast difference to the experience of British Jews. The time for action is now.

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The 2019 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 2017 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.