This is a letter I wrote to ipaper in response to an article on Labour and antisemitism. It is yet to be published.

Dear Sir,
In today’s i (November 27) Nigel Morris writes that “Labour’s relationship with Jewish voters [. . .] has been in crisis since Mr Corbyn took over from Ed Miliband in 2015.” This is incorrect. Labour’s share of the Jewish vote had been in decline for some time and by 2010, according to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, was virtually neck and neck with the Conservatives: 31% to 30%.

With the election of a Jewish leader in Ed Miliband one might expect the Labour vote to recover. But in 2015, for the first time the Conservative share of the Jewish vote passed Labour. Polling by the Jewish Chronicle revealed a massive divide: 69% to 22%. The reason was given as Miliband’s support for a Palestinian state and condemnation of Israeli military tactics in Gaza.

Jeremy Corbyn’s election hardly affected Labour’s share of the Jewish vote: slightly up at 26% compared to 63% Conservative in 2017 according to one analysis of data from the British Election Survey. Hence the ‘crisis’ preceded Jeremy Corbyn’s rise to leadership and was predicated, not upon antisemitism, but upon a shift in Labour’s policy on the Middle East, which had hitherto been entirely pro-Israel.

This begs the question of why persistent allegations of endemic antisemitism in the Labour Party have arisen during Corbyn’s time as leader. For most British Jews the continued existence of the Israeli state is an important part of their identity. They fear that Labour’s position threatens the existence of the State of Israel and endangers Israeli lives.

I believe that Corbyn’s political opponents have successfully conflated support for Palestine with antisemitism and exploited Jewish fears, aided and abetted by many in the media, eager to find any way to smear and undermine Corbyn’s Labour Party. Today’s letter from Roger Schafir and the article by Simon Kelner suggest that a less simplistic narrative is beginning to emerge. It is not necessarily pro Corbyn or even pro Labour. But it suggests a significant number of Jewish voices who do not share Rabbi Mirvis’ position. They may not be the majority. But their voices deserve to be heard.