Poll shows 30% of British public holds anti-Semitic views

A new in-depth survey conducted in the UK found that 30 percent of the British public harbors anti-Semitic views.

A new in-depth survey conducted by the UK-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) found that around 30 percent of the British public is anti-Semitic, at least to some extent.

The report noted, however, that most of the 30 percent polled also held some positive views about Jews.

Furthermore, around 15 percent of the British public indicated they agreed with two or more anti-Semitic views presented to them, while two percent of British adults polled were found to be “hardcore” anti-Semites.

The survey was conducted by JPR senior research fellow Dr. Daniel Staetsky, using face-to-face interviews and online polls.

In his report on the survey, Staetsky said that the level of anti-Semitism in Britain remains among the lowest in the world.

The UK’s Jewish community experienced a surge in anti-Semitic attacks in the past year. A report published by the Community Security Trust (CST) on anti-Semitic occurrences in the UK in 2016 shows an alarming record number of hate incidents.

In the report, published in February, CST recorded 1,309 anti-Semitic incidents nationwide during 2016, a 36-percent increase from the 960 recorded in 2015.

Stamford Hill’s Jewish community recently experienced two violent anti-Semitic attacks.

One-third of British Jews has become fearful of mounting anti-Semitic crime and the failure to remove anti-Semites from politics. Many have been considering leaving Britain altogether within the past two years, according to data published by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) last month.

A survey of 2,025 British Jews shows that only 59 percent feel welcome in the UK; 17 percent feel unwelcome. Over the past two years, 37 percent of British Jews have concealed any Jewish symbols in public.

By: JNS.org and World Israel News Staff