‘Like 1930s Germany’ — Top UK Jewish leader leaving for Israel

Jeremy Jacobs wrote that he has “lost faith in British society” after growing hostility toward Jews.

By World Israel News staff

A senior leader in the United Kingdom’s Jewish community announced in an open letter that he and his wife will soon move to Israel, citing surging antisemitism and an increasingly hostile atmosphere toward Jews in Britain.

Jeremy Jacobs, who served as head of the United Synagogue, an umbrella group for Orthodox Jewry in the country, wrote in a letter published in The Telegraph that he has “lost faith in British society” and believes the situation in the country is no longer tenable for Jews.

Jacobs recounted a specific incident that occurred after the October 7 Hamas-led massacre in Israel, in which he was harassed in public for wearing his kippah while walking with his young granddaughters.

His grandchildren, he added, wear school uniforms bearing logos identifying them as students at a Jewish institution. To avoid harassment, they now hide those symbols in public. Jacobs said students at another local Jewish school have also stopped wearing their uniforms due to safety concerns.

He wrote that despite his family having arrived in Britain in the 1850s, he no longer feels welcome in the country.

“I see myself as British – a proud Brit – but Britain is no longer the country it was,” he wrote.

Jacobs also pointed to the rise of the “Free Palestine” movement, which has spread across university campuses and broader public discourse, arguing that the hostility surrounding Jewish identity and support for Israel carries troubling historical echoes.

“It is hard not to make historical comparisons,” Jacobs wrote. “I’m hesitant to refer to what happened in the 1920s and 1930s, but in Germany, it was in academia where the hatred really started to develop, before it was picked up by the political classes. That’s what is happening in the UK today. I have friends and family at university who are suffering. Any connection with Israel is seen as unacceptable.”

Jacobs stressed, however, that fear is not the sole factor motivating his decision to make aliyah.

“When I walk in Israel, even in a war zone, I feel at home,” he wrote. “In London, where we live, that feeling has gone.”