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Corbyn gains on Johnson in latest UK polls, Jews fear anti-Semitic ‘poison’

Corbyn is edging closer to Number 10 than people realize, conservative strategists fear.

By World Israel News Staff

“Boris Johnson’s chances of winning Thursday’s crunch election are balanced on a knife-edge, according to Conservative strategists who fear Labour do not need to gain a single seat to turf the Prime Minister out of Downing Street,” reported the Daily Mail on Monday.

Internal party polling for Johnson’s Conservative party indicates that losing just 12 of their constituencies could propel Jeremy Corbyn into Number 10 Downing Street, the paper reports.

According to the report, Labour started to chip away this week at Johnson’s poll lead, narrowing the gap to just six points. Two-and-a-half weeks ago, Johnson enjoyed a 13-point lead.

Conservative officials say Corbyn’s chances of becoming Britain’s prime minister have been “seriously underestimated,” the Daily Mail says.

The possibility of a Corbyn victory has raised the concern of Britain’s Jews. Corbyn has made numerous anti-Israel statements. He has welcomed Hezbollah and Hamas representatives at the British parliament, calling them his “friends.”  Anti-Semitism has run rampant in the Labour party since he took over the leadership.

In an unprecedented move, the United Kingdom’s chief rabbi on Nov. 25 slammed Corbyn for failing to stem anti-Semitism within his party.

“A new poison – sanctioned from the top – has taken root in the Labour Party,” Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis wrote in an op-ed published by The New York Times on Monday.

“The way in which the leadership has dealt with anti-Jewish racism is incompatible with the British values of which we are so proud – of dignity and respect for all people,” he wrote.

Mirvis called on everyone to “vote with their conscience,” adding that the “very soul” of the country is “at stake.”

A Sept. 2018 poll found nearly 40 percent of British Jews would “seriously consider emigrating” if Corbyn became prime minister, according to a poll published by The Jewish Chronicle on Wednesday.

An overwhelming majority — 85.9% — of British Jews said Corbyn is an anti-Semite, another poll conducted by The Jewish Chronicle revealed.

The vote will take place on Dec. 12.