Search results
Your search found 29 items
Sort: Relevance | Topics | Title | Author | Publication Year
Home  / Search Results
A year after October 7: British Jewish views on Israel, antisemitism and Jewish life
Author(s): Boyd, Jonathan
Date: 2024
Topics: Jewish Perceptions of Antisemitism, October 7 2023 attacks + aftermath, Surveys, Israel-Diaspora Relations, Israel Attachment, Israel Criticism, Jewish Community, Antisemitism, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Jewish Identity
Abstract: In this report: This landmark report looks at how the October 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza have impacted the British Jewish community one year on. The report demonstrates the profound impact the events of the last year have had on Jews in the UK by analysing the responses of over 4,500 adult British Jews to the JPR Jewish Current Affairs Survey in July 2024 – the largest survey of British Jews since October 7, 2023. Among other things, the report explores how the original Hamas attack and the subsequent war have affected how British Jews view Israel politically, how the public reaction to the conflict has affected Jews’ sense of security and trust in critical organisations in the UK, and how the conflict has impacted the Jewish lives of British Jews – their connections to Israel and the Jewish community. The findings also form the basis for the second series of the JPR/JW3 “Jews Do Count” podcast, available on the JPR website and all major platforms. Some of the key findings in this report: British Jews express far more concern today about the state of Israel’s democracy than they did fifteen or so years ago. Nevertheless, more still believe it to be alive and well today than do not, by 52% to 38%. British Jews are more likely to agree than to disagree that the IDF is acting morally and according to international law, though we see much division in the responses. 50% of British Jews feel that the IDF military action against Hamas since October 7 has been unsuccessful For all the division and criticism, British Jews are still more likely to have felt proud of Israel than ashamed since October 7. Just 54% of Jews in the UK agree that a two-state solution is the only way Israel will achieve peace with its neighbours, compared to 77% who did so in 2010. Only about one in four (26%) British Jews think that most Palestinians want peace with Israel, compared to nearly half (47%) in 2010. Nearly four in five British Jews say that they often feel that they are being held responsible by non-Jews for the actions of Israel’s government, with 43% ‘strongly agreeing’ with this statement. Nearly half of British Jews (46%) say that antisemitism is ‘a very big problem’ in the UK today, compared to 28% in 2018 and only 11% in 2012. In total, 83% of British define antisemitism as a problem in Britain, the highest proportion found since records began over a decade ago. Nearly three in four respondents say they feel less safe as a Jewish person living in the UK, and almost two in three adult British Jews said they feel less confident displaying their Jewishness since the October 7 attacks. Although most British Jews report no overall change in this regard, substantial proportions of British Jews say that they feel closer to their Jewish friends since October 7 (39%) and less close to their non-Jewish friends (24%). The findings also suggest a notable increase in levels of attachment to their local Jewish community. Attachment levels of British Jews to Israel were steady before October 7 but have risen significantly since then, with half of British Jews saying they are ‘very’ attached to Israel today (up from 40% in 2022). About two in three British Jews (65%) identify as Zionist, up slightly compared to before October 7. 10% identify as anti-Zionist, also up slightly. Levels of anxiety among British Jews are higher than they were before October 7 and are notably higher than they are among the general population of Britain. There is no evidence to indicate Jews are leaving the UK in elevated numbers in the past year – on the contrary, emigration levels are generally low and stable and have been for several decades. At the same time, a slight change in sentiment around this issue has occurred over the past year, with many moving up one notch from wherever they were on it before October 7.
What do Jews in the UK think about Israel and its leaders, and how has this changed since October 7?
Author(s): Lessof, Carli; Cohen, Roy Shinar
Date: 2024
Topics: October 7 2023 attacks + aftermath, Surveys, Main Topic: Other, Attitudes to Israel, Israel Criticism, Israel Attachment, Israel-Diaspora Relations
Abstract: The report looks into what Jews in the UK think of key Israeli political leaders and the country’s future, drawing on data from the responses of over 4,500 adult British Jews, members of the JPR Research Panel, to the JPR Jewish Current Affairs Survey, held in June-July 2024. The report reveals that levels of pessimism about Israel’s current situation have increased significantly among British Jews when compared to data gathered before the October 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza.

Some of the main findings in this report:
Three-quarters (74%) of Jews in the UK describe Israel’s situation as “bad” (37%) or “very bad” (37%), increasing from 57% measured in Apr/May 2023. Overall, Jews in the UK characterise Israel’s current state more negatively than Israelis.
95% of adult British Jews have an opinion on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most widely known leader among those examined. Four in five Jews hold an unfavourable opinion of him, with 65% saying they “strongly disapprove” and 15% saying they “somewhat” disapprove of him.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (-78%), Minister of Security Itamar Ben-Gvir (-77%) and Netanyahu (-68%) are the Israeli leaders British Jews least approve of when looking at their net approval ratings. Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid (+12%) and former Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister Benny Gantz (+10%) are the only two leaders showing positive net ratings among those examined.
Lapid is the only leader examined showing an increase in net approval rate compared to data from before October 7.
Politically ‘right-leaning’ Jews were much more likely to approve of Netanyahu than those who are ‘left-leaning’.
Jewish Lives and Jewish Education in the UK: School, Family and Society
Author(s): Miller, Helena; Pomson, Alex
Date: 2024
Topics: Main Topic: Education, Jewish Schools, Jewish Students, Youth, Teenagers, Coronavirus/Covid, Family and Household, Israel Attachment, Israel Education
Abstract: The book explores the evolving relationships between parents and children, the significance of the Jewish school in their lives, how young people think about religious practices, and their lives in the UK. It addresses issues related to families and schooling and pays special attention to the transitions to secondary school and then to life opportunities in the following years. It also uncovers the effect of these transitions on the family, and of the family on those transitions.

The book views these phenomena through the prism of a ten-year period from when research participants were eleven years old until they were twenty-one, drawing on a range of theoretical frameworks to help make sense of what was observed. The data help clarify how Jewish schools function as both public and community-based institutions, and what they do and do not contribute to the lives of young people. The research reported includes large scale survey data sets as well as repeated in-depth interviewswith parents and their children. The findings have multiple implications for practitioners, policy makers and researchers as they seek ways to understand and engage with families and schools. This book also appeals to researchers who are interested in the development of religious and cultural identity in the context of minority groups within multicultural societies.
Jews in the UK today: Key findings from the JPR National Jewish Identity Survey
Author(s): Graham, David; Boyd, Jonathan
Date: 2024
Topics: Jewish Identity, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Religious Belief, Religious Observance and Practice, Antisemitism, Israel Attachment, Zionism, Surveys
Abstract: This landmark study provides a detailed and updated profile of how British Jews understand and live their Jewish lives. It is based on JPR’s National Jewish Identity Survey, conducted in November-December 2022 among nearly 5,000 members of the JPR research panel. It is the largest survey of its kind and the most comprehensive study of Jewish identity to date.

The report, written by Dr David Graham and Dr Jonathan Boyd, covers a variety of key themes in contemporary Jewish life, including religious belief and affiliation, Jewish education and cultural consumption, Jewish ethnicity, Zionism and attachment to Israel, antisemitism, charitable giving and volunteering, and the relationship between community engagement and happiness.

Some of the key findings in this report:

Just 34% of British Jews believe in God ‘as described in the Bible’. However, over half of British Jewish adults belong to a synagogue and many more practice aspects of Jewish religious culture.
94% of Jews in the UK say that moral and ethical behaviour is an important part of their Jewish identities. Nearly 9 out of 10 British Jews reported making at least one charitable donation yearly.
88% of British Jews have been to Israel at least once, and 73% say that they feel very or somewhat attached to the country. However, the proportion identifying as ‘Zionists’ has fallen from 72% to 63% over the past decade.
Close to a third of all British Jewish adults personally experienced some kind of antisemitic incident in the year before the survey, a much higher number than that recorded in police or community incident counts.
Conflict in Israel and Gaza: What do Jews in the UK think?
Author(s): Graham, David; Boyd, Jonathan
Date: 2023
Topics: Israel Attachment, Israel Criticism, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Main Topic: Other, Surveys
Abstract: What do Jews in the UK think in regard to Israel’s military conflict with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza? This report looks into the opinions of over 4,000 of JPR’s Research Panel members, following the May 2021 conflict between the sides. Respondents were asked to state how much they agree or disagree with two different statements: “Israel’s government handled the military aspects of the conflict appropriately” and “Israel’s government engaged in the conflict primarily for political rather than military reasons”.

The report finds that overall, Jews support Israel’s right to defend itself militarily but that this support is not uncritical. Moreover, Jews in the UK do not hold uniform views on Israel: levels of attachment to Israel, support for Britain’s Labour Party and holding a degree level qualification were found to be the key predictors of attitudes.

Some of the key findings in this report:
57% of the respondents agreed that Israel’s government handled the military aspects of the conflict appropriately, while 33% disagreed.
42% of the respondents agreed that Israel’s government engaged in the conflict primarily for political rather than military reasons, while 47% disagreed.
The main predictor of attitudes about this conflict is a person’s level of emotional attachment to Israel. Those with stronger feeling of attachment are more willing to give Israel the benefit of the doubt, independent of other variables such as political stance, religiosity and education.
In general, respondents who felt more weakly attached to Israel, or who were younger or more secular, or politically leftist, or university educated, were more likely to hold a more critical stance than those who were older, or more religious, or politically rightist, or non-university educated
L'israélisation de la diaspora juive. Le cas de Sar-El, volontariat civil en Israël
Translated Title: The Israelisation of the Jewish Diaspora: The Case of Sar-El, Civil Volunteering in Israel
Author(s): Partouche, Maëlle
Date: 2023
Topics: Israel Attachment, Israel-Diaspora Relations, Israel Education, Israel Experience, Israel Tours, Diaspora, Main Topic: Other, Zionism
Abstract: En quoi Sar El, programme de volontariat civil dans l'armée israélienne, joue-t-il un double rôle d'offre et de demande dans les relations entre la diaspora juive et l'État israélien. Répondre à cette question suppose d'envisager Sar-El comme un cas pratique d'israélisation de la diaspora par Israël, c'est-à-dire comme une entreprise de captation des juifs « de l'étranger » par un État autoproclamé centre du monde juif, tout en saisissant son inscription dans le « continuum d'engagements » des juifs restés en diaspora. Ce qui se joue dans la mise en œuvre et le succès de ce programme interroge la situation contemporaine des juifs en France et l'évolution du sionisme dans le contexte français. Plus largement, l'élaboration de tels programmes doit être appréhendée comme s'inscrivant dans le processus historique d'auto-ajustement de l'axiomatique de l'État gardien développé par D. Trom.
Grounding Jewishness: How attached do Jews feel to Israel, Europe and the countries in which they live?
Author(s): DellaPergola, Sergio; Staetsky, Daniel
Date: 2023
Topics: Jewish Identity, Main Topic: Identity and Community, National Identity, Surveys, Integration, Israel Attachment, European Union
Abstract: How attached do European Jews feel to the countries in which they live? Or to the European Union? And are their loyalties ‘divided’ in some way – between their home country and Israel? Answering these types of questions helps us to see how integrated European Jews feel today, and brings some empiricism to the antisemitic claim that Jews don’t fully ‘belong.’

This mini-report, based on JPR's groundbreaking report ‘The Jewish identities of European Jews’, explores European Jews’ levels of attachment to the countries in which they live, to Israel, and to the European Union, and compares them with those of wider society and other minority groups across Europe. Some of the key findings in this study written by Professor Sergio DellaPergola and Dr Daniel Staetsky of JPR’s European Jewish Demography Unit include:

European Jews tend to feel somewhat less strongly attached to the countries in which they live than the general population of those countries, but more strongly attached than other minority groups and people of no religion.
That said, levels of strong attachment to country vary significantly from one country to another, both among Jews and others.
European Jews tend to feel somewhat more strongly attached to the European Union than the general populations of their countries, although in many cases, the distinctions are small.
Some European Jewish populations feel more strongly attached to Israel than to the countries in which they live, and some do not. The Jewish populations that tend to feel more attached to Israel than the countries in which they live often have high proportions of recent Jewish immigrants.
Having a strong attachment to Israel has no bearing on Jewish people's attachments to the EU or the countries in which they live, and vice versa: one attachment does not come at the expense of another. They are neither competitive nor complementary; they are rather completely unrelated.
Jews of different denominations show very similar levels of attachment to the countries in which they live, but rather different levels of attachment to Israel and the EU.
Between Authenticity and Ethnicity: Heritage Tourism and Re-ethnification Among Diaspora Jewish Youth
Author(s): Lev Ari, Lilach; Mittelberg, David
Date: 2008
Topics: Birthright (Taglit), Educational Tours, Israel Attachment, Israel-Diaspora Relations, Israel Tours, Israel Experience, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity
Abstract: Heritage tourism takes on a new meaning when conceived and implemented in the framework of a diaspora – homeland context. Trip organisers utilise heritage tourism that identifies the signifiers of national collective identity or Peoplehood and construct an experience of authenticity that supports a newly reconstructed narrative of personal and collective identity that bridges the diaspora and homeland identities. This paper examines into the differential consequences of heritage tourism on the ethnic identity of diaspora travellers from North America and the former Soviet Union to their homeland, specifically contrasting Jewish tourists from different diaspora localities making an otherwise almost identical birthright Israel trip. For both groups, Jewish ethnic identity was strengthened, particularly their emotional attachment to Israel. However, the difference between the two groups was found in the actual factors that explain this post trip attachment to Israel. The experiential component was more prominent among participants from the former Soviet Union, while among North American student participants, Jewish background as well as their higher pre-trip motivations provide an explanation for their high post-trip scores of attachment to Israel. Israel thus serves as the liminal domain of diaspora tourists, where existential authenticity and pre-trip ethnicity as latent as the latter may be, intertwine experientially to generate an expansion of the frame of individual identity of diaspora tourists in their homeland.
Fifth Survey of European Jewish Community Leaders and Professionals, 2021
Author(s): Dimentstein, Marcelo
Date: 2021
Topics: Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity, Jewish Community, Coronavirus/Covid, Antisemitism, Israel Attachment, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Jewish Organisations, Security / Insecurity, Surveys
Abstract: The Fifth Survey of European Jewish Community Leaders and Professionals, 2021 presents the results of an online survey offered in 10 languages and administered to 1054 respondents in 31 countries. Conducted every three years using the same format, the survey seeks to identify trends and their evolution in time.

Even if European Jewish leaders and community professionals rank antisemitism and combatting it among their first concerns and priorities, they are similarly committed to expanding Jewish communities and fostering future sustainability by engaging more young people and unaffiliated Jews.

The survey covers a wide variety of topics including the toll of COVID-19 on European Jewish communities and a widening generational gap around pivotal issues. Conducted every three years since 2008, the study is part of JDC’s wider work in Europe, which includes its partnerships with local Jewish communities and programs aiding needy Jews, fostering Jewish life and leaders, resilience training.

The respondents were comprised of presidents and chairpersons of nationwide “umbrella organizations” or Federations; presidents and executive directors of private Jewish foundations, charities, and other privately funded initiatives; presidents and main representatives of Jewish communities that are organized at a city level; executive directors and programme coordinators, as well as current and former board members of Jewish organizations; among others.

The JDC International Centre for Community Development established the survey as a means to identify the priorities, sensibilities and concerns of Europe’s top Jewish leaders and professionals working in Jewish institutions, taking into account the changes that European Jewry has gone through since 1989, and the current political challenges and uncertainties in the continent. In a landscape with few mechanisms that can truly gauge these phenomena, the European Jewish Community Leaders Survey is an essential tool for analysis and applied research in the field of community development.
Le Mal-Être juif: Entre repli, assimilation & manipulations
Translated Title: Jewish malaise: Between withdrawal, assimilation & manipulation
Author(s): Vidal, Dominique
Date: 2003
Topics: Antisemitism, Attitudes to Israel, Anti-Zionism, Israel Attachment, Israel Criticism, Jewish Identity, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Surveys, Islamophobia
Abstract: [Summary from: http://iesr.ephe.psl.eu/ressources-pedagogiques/comptes-rendus-ouvrages/vidal-dominique-mal-etre-juif-entre-repli]

L’A. part du constat que de nombreux Juifs français éprouvent aujourd’hui un malaise lié à la fois au conflit du Proche- Orient et à une véritable crise structurelle d’identité. Son livre est une étude sociologique qui tente de comprendre cette crise identitaire des Juifs français auxquels il reste selon lui à « forger une identité (juive) moderne et progressiste ». L’ouvrage s’appuie sur une enquête menée en janvier 2002 qui fournit des chiffres très précis sur les Juifs de France (p.63). La religion, la solidarité avec Israël et la mémoire de la Shoah sont pour les principales institutions officielles du judaïsme les trois éléments fondamentaux de l’identité juive mais cette conception fait aussi l’objet de critiques très vives à l’intérieur même de la communauté. Le judaïsme français apparaît donc comme polyphonique dans l’approche de son identité (p. 35).

L’A. dénonce le développement d’une « contre-Intifada idéologique » dont le but est de décrédibiliser toutes les voix discordantes face au « récit officiel » du conflit au Proche-Orient. Il estime qu’un tel acharnement n’est pas seulement condamnable en soi mais qu’il a aussi contribué à privilégier désormais la prudence sur la recherche de vérité, notamment dans les médias. Si d’autre part il reconnaît la recrudescence d’actes antijuifs en France, il dénonce à la fois une exagération numérique liée à l’amalgame dangereux qui est fait entre tous les actes recensés et le silence qui enveloppe la vague concomitante d’agressions anti-arabes qui a suivi le 11 septembre 2001.
Sionisme et diaspora. Les Juifs de France et Israël: Table ronde avec Esther Benbassa, Théo Klein, Patrick Klugman et Dominique Vidal
Translated Title: Zionism and the Diaspora. The Jews of France and Israel: Round table with Esther Benbassa, Théo Klein, Patrick Klugman and Dominique Vidal
Author(s): Nicolaïdis, Dimitri; Simon, Patrick; Wasserman, Gilbert
Date: 2004
Topics: Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, Israel-Diaspora Relations, Israel Attachment, Israel Criticism, Main Topic: Other
Abstract: Comment les Juifs de France pensent-ils et vivent-ils aujourd’hui leur relation au sionisme d’une part et à la politique israélienne de l’autre ? Quels sont les débats en cours alors que les violences antisémites ont connu un certain regain mais alors que d’un autre côté des replis communautaristes s’affirment ? Nous en avons débattu avec Esther Benbassa, historienne, Théo Klein, ancien président du Comité représentatif des institutions juives de France (CRIF), Patrick Klugman, ancien président de l’Union des étudiants juifs de France (UEJF) et Dominique Vidal, journaliste au Monde diplomatique.
Le rôle d’Israël dans le dynamisme communautaire
Translated Title: The role of Israel in community dynamism
Author(s): Raviv, Noga
Editor(s): Tartakowsky, Ewa; Dimentstein, Marcelo
Date: 2017
Topics: Israel Attachment, Israel Education, Israel-Diaspora Relations, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Community
Ethno-religious Othering as a Reason Behind the Central European* Jewish Distancing from Israel
Author(s): Zoufalá, Marcela Menachem
Editor(s): Fireberg, Haim; Glöckner, Olaf; Zoufalá, Marcela Menachem
Date: 2020
Topics: Jewish Identity, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Israel-Diaspora Relations, Israel Attachment
German Youth Educational Travel to Israel
Author(s): Ayalon, Yoni; Schnell, Izhak
Date: 2014
Topics: Educational Tours, Israel Tours, Main Topic: Education, Jewish Education, Jewish Identity, Israel Attachment, Israel Education, Israel Experience, Teenagers, Youth, Interviews
Abstract: The article examines the phenomenon of German youth educational tourism to Israel. A qualitative analysis of visits to the main tourist sites in Israel was conducted, and the analysis and interpretation of interviews that were conducted with the youths reflected characteristics of the youths’ sense of a tourist place. The experiences of the German youths in Jerusalem, on the Tel Aviv beach, at memorial sites, in seminars, and in visits to the private homes of Israeli youths blended into a central narrative of creating a reality of a new coexistence that is based on mutual respect between the next generations of Germans and Israelis. We suggest that a reconstruction of identities emerges from the dialectics between the home place of the tourists and the toured places in Israel.
The Impact of German Jewish Youth Educational Travel to Israel on Attitude Change Toward Israel
Author(s): Ayalon, Yoni; Schnell, Izhak
Date: 2020
Topics: Main Topic: Education, Jewish Education, Educational Tours, Israel Attachment, Israel Tours, Youth, Teenagers, Israel Experience, Israel Education
Abstract: This article explores the impact of German Jewish youth educational travel in Israel on changing attitudes toward Israel. The travelers are engaged in direct interaction with the host country, directly experiencing the environments and interacting with members of the host society while touring places with symbolic meaning. The encounters with places that were perceived as meaningful encouraged the adolescent youth to emotionally identify with the values of those places and to redefine the role of Israel in the young person’s identity. Consequently, the travelers are expected to improve their attitudes toward Israel as the toured place.
Jewish Lives: a longitudinal study to explore changing lives of Jewish secondary school students and their families. Focus: Israel
Date: 2018
Topics: Longitudinal Studies, Teenagers, Jewish Schools, Main Topic: Education, Schools: Seconday / High Schools, Israel Tours, Israel Attachment, Attitudes to Israel
Abstract: What do Jewish 18 year olds think about Israel and their relationship with the modern State? As this cohort enters late adolescence, their consciousness regarding their relationship with Israel will be forming. They will be leaving secondary school at the end of this academic year and if they continue onto further education, they will be confronted with the complex relationship with Israel that exists on campus. We are interested in the changing lives of adolescents and understanding how this cohort view their relationship to the modern State of Israel.

This study is conducting an in-depth and sustained exploration of the changing Jewish lives of young people and their families. Our data is collected from students in 7 Jewish schools and from students in non-Jewish schools.
We compared data collected before attending the post GCSE Israel Tour with information obtained during Year 13. All the Jewish schools in our sample apart from one offer a Year 9 Israel Trip, which is a two to three week educational tour of the country, taking place towards the end of the summer term. 73% percent of the student sample went on their Year 9 Israel trip. In addition, one of our schools offers a Year 9 extended
Israel programme for 10 weeks, which typically attracts 10–20% of the eligible cohort.
Fourth Survey of European Jewish Community Leaders and Professionals, 2018
Author(s): Kosmin, Barry A.
Date: 2018
Topics: Antisemitism, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Israel Attachment, Jewish Continuity, Religious Denominations, Security, Surveys, Jewish Leadership, Jewish Organisations, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity
Abstract: The Fourth Survey of European Jewish Community Leaders and Professionals, 2018 presents the results of an online survey offered in 10 languages and administered to 893 respondents in 29 countries. Conducted every three years using the same format, the survey seeks to identify trends and their evolution in time.

The survey asked Jewish lay leaders and community professionals questions regarding future community priorities, identifying the main threats to Jewish life, views on the safety and security situation in their cities, including emergency preparedness, and opinions on an array of internal community issues. Examples include conversions, membership criteria policies on intermarriage, and their vision of Europe and Israel.

The respondents were comprised of presidents and chairpersons of nationwide “umbrella organizations” or Federations; presidents and executive directors of private Jewish foundations, charities, and other privately funded initiatives; presidents and main representatives of Jewish communities that are organized at a city level; executive directors and programme coordinators, as well as current and former board members of Jewish organizations; among others.

The JDC International Centre for Community Development established the survey as a means to identify the priorities, sensibilities and concerns of Europe’s top Jewish leaders and professionals working in Jewish institutions, taking into account the changes that European Jewry has gone through since 1989, and the current political challenges and uncertainties in the continent. In a landscape with few mechanisms that can truly gauge these phenomena, the European Jewish Community Leaders Survey is an essential tool for analysis and applied research in the field of community development.

The Survey team was directed by Dr. Barry Kosmin (Trinity College), who has conducted several large national social surveys and opinion polls in Europe, Africa and the U.S., including the CJF 1990 US National Jewish Population Survey.
The Israelization of British Jewry: Balancing between home and homeland
Author(s): Greene, Toby; Shain, Yossi
Date: 2016
Topics: Politics, Israel Tours, Israel Attachment, Jewish Community, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract: Israel is increasingly the epicentre of Jewish peoplehood, shaping the lives of diaspora Jews as both an engine driving interconnectedness and a source of division. ‘Israelization’ impacts diaspora Jews differently according to country of domicile. This article examines British Jewry, providing historical context and drawing on interviews to explore the community’s shifting identity and culture. It argues that Britain represents a unique model between America and France. In America, where security is greater, Jewish ethnic ties are loosening, whereas in France, doubts over the Jewish community’s future increase their focus on Israel. While British Jews experience hostility, they feel safer than in France. Flourishing British Jewish culture reflects commitment to multi-ethnic Britain, alongside loyalty to Israel. The dynamics of those loyalties are changing, however, with dissent against Israeli policies increasingly legitimised. We conclude that the Israelization of British Jewry is all encompassing, even while allowing for a thriving diaspora community.
The Place of Israel - Symbolic and Real - in the Life of Russian-Soviet Jewry
Author(s): Remennick, Larissa
Editor(s): Ben-Moshe, Danny; Segev, Zohar
Date: 2007
Topics: Israel-Diaspora Relations, Jewish Identity, Israel Attachment, Zionism, Main Topic: Identity and Community
The Place of Israel in British Jewish Identity
Author(s): Shindler, Colin
Editor(s): Ben-Moshe, Danny; Segev, Zohar
Date: 2007
Topics: Israel-Diaspora Relations, Jewish Identity, Israel Attachment, Zionism, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Third Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers, 2015
Author(s): Kosmin, Barry A.
Date: 2016
Topics: Antisemitism, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Israel Attachment, Jewish Continuity, Religious Denominations, Security, Surveys, Jewish Leadership, Jewish Organisations, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity
Abstract: Launched by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s International Centre for Community Development (JDC-ICCD), and conducted by a research team at Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut, USA) between June and August 2015, the Third Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers presents the results of an online survey administered to 314 respondents in 29 countries. The survey was conducted online in five languages: English, French, Spanish, German and Hungarian. The Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers is conducted every three or four years using the same format, in order to identify trends and their evolution. Findings of the 2015 edition were assessed and evaluated based on the results of previous surveys (2008 and 2011). The survey posed Jewish leaders and opinion formers a range of questions about major challenges and issues that
concern European Jewish communities in 2015, and about their expectations of how communities will evolve over the next 5-10 years. The 45 questions (see Appendix) dealt
with topics that relate to internal community structures and their functions, as well as the external environment affecting communities. The questionnaire also included six open-ended questions in a choice of five languages. These answers form the basis of the qualitative analysis of the report. The questions were organized under the following headings:• Vision & Change (6 questions)
• Decision-Making & Control (1 question)
• Lay Leadership (1 question)
• Professional Leadership (2 questions)
• Status Issues & Intermarriage (5 questions)
• Organizational Frameworks (2 questions)
• Community Causes (2 questions)
• Jewish Education (1 question)
• Funding (3 questions)
• Communal Tensions (3 questions)
• Anti-Semitism/Security (5 questions)
• Europe (1 question)
• Israel (1 question)
• Future (2 questions)
• Personal Profile (9 questions)
Second Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers, 2011
Author(s): Kosmin, Barry A.
Date: 2012
Topics: Antisemitism, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Israel Attachment, Jewish Continuity, Religious Denominations, Security, Surveys, Jewish Leadership, Jewish Organisations, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity
Abstract: unquoted attribute value: "margin-left: 4
Affect and Cultural Change: The Rise of Popular Zionism in the British Jewish Community After the Six Day War (1967)
Author(s): Hakim, Jamie
Date: 2012
Topics: Interviews, Zionism, Israel Attachment, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract: In current Jewish Studies scholarship there is a broad consensus that the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967 caused both an intense emotional response in Britain’s Jewish community and a change in the relationship this community had with the State of Israel. What this scholarship has yet to provide is either a detailed account of the ways that the June 1967 war impacted on this community or a sustained theorisation of how the intensity generated by a world-historical event might bring about change. This thesis attempts to address these gaps by interviewing twelve British Jews who lived through their community’s response to the war and supplement this data with original archival research, adding detail that is currently missing from the historical record. It then interprets this data using a cultural studies approach grounded, primarily, in the thought of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. In using this approach this thesis reveals that it was the intense affectivity generated by the Zionist representation of the war as the ‘Six Day War’ that caused the community to change in the post-1967 conjuncture. It then identifies these changes as cultural ¬– occurring on the planes of identity, representation, everyday life, cultural practice and, most crucially, affectivity. In revealing the centrality of affect in the impact of the war on the British Jewish community, this thesis argues that the hegemonic form of Zionism that emerges within that community after 1967 is ‘Popular Zionism’, defined as an intensely charged affective disposition towards the State of Israel that is lived out in the cultural identities, everyday lives and cultural practices of British Jews.
The Attitudes of British Jews Towards Israel
Author(s): Miller, Stephen; Harris, Margaret; Shindler, Colin
Date: 2015
Topics: Surveys, Attitudes to Israel, Israel-Diaspora Relations, Israel Attachment, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract: On the 12th November, 2015, City University published independent academic research on British Jewish attitudes towards Israel. Funded by Yachad, 1,131 adult British Jews were surveyed on their views on Israel by Ipsos Mori between March and June of 2015. The research design, analysis and interpretation of the data was carried out by a research team comprising: Stephen Miller, Emeritus Professor of Social Research in the Department of Sociology at City University London; Margaret Harris, Emeritus Professor of Voluntary Sector Organisation, Aston University, and Visiting Professor at Birkbeck, University of London; and Colin Shindler, Emeritus Professor of Israel Studies, SOAS, University of London.

The research found that Israel plays a central role for British Jews, with 93% saying the Jewish state plays a “central”, “important” or “some” role in their Jewish identity, and 90% supporting Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. It reflected significant concerns about the security situation in Israel with many respondents ambivalent about withdrawal from the West Bank because of security concerns (50% vs 33% support the proposition that “Israeli control of the West Bank is vital for Israel’s security”), despite commitment to a two-state solution.

In addition:

75% stated that settlement expansion formed a “major” obstacle to peace. 68% endorsed the statement “I feel a sense of despair every time Israel approves an expansion of the settlements”.
73% felt that Israel’s current approach to the peace process has damaged its standing in the world.
There is strong support for Israel to “cede territory” in order to achieve peace (62% for, 25% against). But if withdrawal is seen as posing a risk to Israel’s security, the majority then oppose withdrawal (50%:33%).
61% felt that the Israeli government’s first priority should be “pursuing peace negotiations with the Palestinians. 64% felt they had the right to judge Israel’s actions though they do not live there.
58% agree with the statement that Israel “will be seen as an apartheid state if it tries to retain control over borders that contain more Arabs than Jews” (22% disagree).
Almost 80% of respondents consider that, in the context of the conflicts raging around the world, those who condemn Israel’s military actions “are guilty of applying double standards”.
“Hawks” on Israel significantly overestimated how widely their views were shared by a factor of two while “doves” underestimated theirs by 10%. British Jews who believe Palestinians have no claim to own land think their views are shared by 49% of British Jewry, despite the actual figure being 14%.
Hannah Weisfeld, director of Yachad said of the findings of the report:

“The community is shifting. Feelings of despair, conflict between loyalty to Israel and concern over policies of the government are mainstream not marginal positions. The research shows we are more willing to speak out on these issues than ever before. Members of Anglo-Jewry who have previously been afraid to give voice to their concerns over Israeli government policy, should realise that they are in fact part of the majority.

This is against the backdrop of a Jewish community that remains fully committed to Israel and its centrality to Jewish identity.”
Identity à la Carte: Research on Jewish identities, participation and affiliation in five Eastern European countries
Author(s): Kovács, András; Ildiko, Barna; DellaPergola, Sergio; Kosmin, Barry
Date: 2011
Topics: Affiliation and Belonging, Antisemitism, Intermarriage, Israel Attachment, Surveys, Jewish Identity, Religious Observance and Practice, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract:

This report describes the process and results of a research study on Jewish identity and community participation in Central and Eastern Europe. In particular, it identifies trends among Jewish adults in Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania. This two-year and wide-reaching study, examined views on religious observance, Jewish identity, anti-Semitism, Israel, Jewish knowledge, and organizational affiliation among 1,270 Jews, ages 18-60.
Affect and Popular Zionism in the British Jewish community after 1967
Author(s): Hakim, Jamie
Date: 2015
Topics: Interviews, Zionism, Israel Attachment, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract: It is widely accepted within Jewish historiography that the ‘Six Day War’ (1967) had a profound effect on the British Jewish community’s relationship with Israel and Zionism. While this scholarship touches on the affective nature of this relationship, it rarely gives this aspect sustained consideration. Instead of seeing Zionism as an ideology or a political movement, this article argues that the hegemonic way that Zionism has existed within British Jewry since 1967 is as an affective disposition primarily lived out on the planes of popular culture and the British Jewish everyday. As such, it can be more accurately labelled Popular Zionism. In order to make this argument, this article uses a theoretical framework developed by Lawrence Grossberg that brings the thought of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari to bear on British cultural studies and supports it by drawing on 12 semi-structured interviews with British Jews and original archival material.
The role of Israel in French-Jewish identity
Author(s): Cohen, Erik H.
Editor(s): Ben-Moshe, Danny; Segev, Zohar
Date: 2007
Topics: Israel-Diaspora Relations, Jewish Identity, Israel Attachment, Zionism, Main Topic: Identity and Community
The attachment of British Jews to Israel
Author(s): Kosmin, Barry; Lerman, Antony; Goldberg, Jacqueline
Date: 1997
Topics: Surveys, Attitudes to Israel, Israel Attachment, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract: The findings in this report are based on a 1995 postal survey of a sample of 2,194 British Jews.

Overall it was found that 43 per cent of the sample felt a strong attachment to Israel, 38 per cent were moderately attached, 16 per cent expressed no special attachment, while 3 per cent had negative feelings towards Israel.

When respondents selected one of the following ways of self-identification, 18 per cent replied that they felt 'more British than Jewish', 54 per cent that they felt 'equally British and Jewish' and 26 per cent that they felt 'more Jewish than British'. Only 2 per cent were unsure.

Statistically significant differences are found by sex (women are more strongly attached than men), age (older age groups are more strongly attached than the young) and region.The findings also demonstrated a strikingly clear pattern of strengthening attachment to Israel as the degree of commitment to traditional Judaism rises.

The findings point to the significance of experiencing Israel for younger people. The young have a psychological and emotional deficit that has to be compensated for by visiting Israel.
Between Israel and Germany from the “Alien Asiatic People” to the new German Jewry
Author(s): Bodemann, Y. Michal
Date: 2006
Topics: Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity, Zionism, Diaspora, Diaspora Relations, Israel-Diaspora Relations, Israel Attachment, Post-War Reconstruction
Abstract: How have Jews in Germany, stranded or returned there after World War II, related to Israel and to Germany, and how have their attitudes evolved since then? For decades, most Jews had no plans to stay in Germany, and their identification with and commitment to Israel, certainly in the first two decades, was extraordinary. However, over time their distance and even hostility to the German environment began to lessen, especially as West Germany developed ever closer ties with Israel. To a considerable degree, Germans themselves first reinitiated contacts with Jews and Jewish issues via Israel. In recent years, coinciding with the influx of Russian Jews and the policies of the Netanyahu and Sharon governments, there has been renewed emphasis on Diaspora and its values and a more positive reappraisal of the history of Jews in Germany. Nonetheless, basic ambivalences remain in place.