Bernard Spiegal

The words and deeds of the self-proclaimed Jewish state -Israel – are prime progenitors of antisemitism.

International civil society, as distinct from so many governments, look on in horror, and perhaps in disbelief, as the Israeli state – via the words and deeds of its leaders, its officials, its military, its deranged, Old Testament-wielding, Settler militias, and with the seeming support of the majority Israeli population – enact acts of callous genocidal cruelty on the indigenous population of Palestine – on Palestinians.

 Israel insists that its actions are undertaken specifically for and by Jews in support of a Jewish, not a civil, state. Should we be surprised, then, given Israel’s genocidal actions – since October 7 over 69,182 people have been killed of which 20,179 are children – in Gaza, its marauding, murderous violence in the West Bank, and its perennial attempts to rid East Jerusalem of its Palestinian inhabitants, that many people, not previously touched by antisemitism, will feel themselves drifting in that direction? That, thanks to Israel’s illegitimate claim that it speaks for a great majority of Jews worldwide, antisemitism develops some purchase.

Jews are not aided by a Jewish Establishment – the Board of Deputies, the so-called Chief Rabbi (notwithstanding his title, he ‘represents’ only a limited proportion of UK Jews), the Campaign Against Antisemitism and others – that uncritically support Israel, seemingly no matter what it does. Indeed, the so-called Chief Rabbi has proclaimed he sees no distinction between his Zionism and his Judaism.  Good antisemitic material this, for it lends itself to the interpretation that Judaism, and therefore Jews, endorse Israel’s actions, no matter what.

What Israel has done, is doing, alongside the Jewish Establishment, is to add another motivational stream to potential antisemitism. For, distinct from historical motivations – Jews as Christ killers, Jews as imbibers of Christian babies’ blood, Jews as racially inferior – a current impulse to Jew-hate/Jew-dislike is as likely to be prompted by what Israel is doing and saying now, making the false claim that it is in the name of Jews.

Nevertheless, a conclusion that leads to the legitimisation of antisemitism will be wrong on similar grounds to the Jewish Establishment being wrong. They both assume – or wish to give the impression – that all, or at least the overwhelming majority, of Jews support Israel and its actions simply because they are Jews. This is the antisemitic trope that all Jews think alike, and for nefarious purposes. But it is the Israeli state, and our purblind official UK Jewish Establishment that must take some responsibility for creating the conditions that nurture antisemitic sentiment.

Antisemitism has utility for the Jewish supremacist state.

This may, at first blush, seem paradoxical. However, from Israel’s perspective, utility is derived from Jews, in Israel and worldwide, feeling afeared at the prospect of antisemitism taking hold. It is thought supportive of the Jewish state because:

• as is now the case, and has been for some time, all criticism of Israel, be that by civil society, other states, or judicial bodies, can be characterised as motivated by antisemitism and therefore illegitimate
• similarly, generating fear and a sense of vulnerability among Jews worldwide has the same effect.  It nurtures a sense of connection with Israel, one that otherwise might not be felt
• Israel hopes that fear of antisemitism among Jews in other countries will induce them to emigrate to Israel for ‘safety’. A primary aim of the Israeli state is to increase the population of Jews living in Israel. This to secure a demographic advantage over Palestinians

From Israel’s perspective, a shared sense of fear acts as a glue binding Israeli-Jews – citizens of a Jewish supremacist state – to non-Israeli Jews.  Israel casts itself as a safe haven, standing as a protective shield against suppositious threats.

In other contexts, all this would be laughable. The overwhelming majority of Jews, in numerous countries, value the non-Israeli lives they live; and they are in general as safe as any other citizen of the same country. Meanwhile, Israel is probably one of the least safe places to live.