New JPR data show that while attachment to Israel has strengthened for many since October 7, others are pulling away, exposing growing divergence and moral tension within the community.
Omri Gal Kornblum
Since October 7, 2023, British Jewish life has been reshaped in ways that are still unfolding. The shock of the attacks on Israeli citizens, the subsequent war in Gaza and the global reaction to it have placed Israel at the centre of Jewish consciousness in Britain in an unusually intense way. Conversations that may previously have been occasional or abstract have become more immediate, personal, and, at times, deeply uncomfortable.
For many British Jews, Israel is not a distant political entity to be assessed dispassionately. It is part of their identity, their sense of peoplehood, their understanding of Jewish history and collective future. On top of that, most British Jewish adults have family and close friends living in Israel, so when events in Israel intensify, that connection does not remain abstract – it becomes immediate and personal.
We have seen all of this before in moments of crisis, but October 7 has amplified it. The scale of the attacks, the sense of vulnerability they exposed, and the subsequent surge in global antisemitism and the war in Gaza have reinforced the perception among many British Jews that Israel matters practically, not only symbolically. Israel is not just ‘over there’ – it is bound up with what it is to be Jewish in a world that can feel uncertain.
But this heightened centrality does not produce a single emotional or political outcome.
Attachment to Israel has strengthened, but not everyone
Much of the public discourse on diaspora Jews has focused on their growing attachment to Israel in the wake of October 7, being more defensive of it and more sensitive to external criticism. That is certainly a big part of the story.
But new data from JPR’s Jews in Uncertain Times Survey suggest a more complex and less visible reality alongside it. While attachment to Israel has strengthened for many, there has also been a rise in criticism, and, for some, a growing sense of distance, ambivalence or anger.
The picture that emerges is not one of a single, unified response. Rather, British Jews are responding in different ways. Some feel a stronger emotional attachment to Israel and a renewed sense of solidarity, which manifests in charitable giving and communal priorities. For others, particularly among younger British Jews, the same events have contributed to a sense of distancing, expressed in more critical or even anti-Zionist positions. And for many, the result is neither simple attachment nor straightforward distancing, but a more complex and unsettled engagement.
It is also important to recognise that the British Jewish community has never been monolithic. Even before October 7, levels of attachment and criticism towards Israel varied across age groups, levels of religiosity, and degrees of engagement with Jewish life. Still, there are visible signs of growing generational divergence around Israel that should concern us as a community.
Can British Jews facilitate a complex conversation about Israel?
British Jews today are navigating a difficult emotional and moral terrain. They may feel a strong sense of solidarity with Israelis, a deep empathy for the trauma of October 7, and a profound concern for Israel’s security. At the same time, they may feel deeply disturbed about aspects of the war, profoundly troubled by its humanitarian consequences, or greatly troubled about political leadership in Israel. Sometimes, all these feelings sit along one another in a single person’s mind.
For policymakers and communal leaders, this presents a challenge. But it is also an opportunity.
The challenge lies in holding space for this divergence and complexity. Simplistic narratives – that British Jews are either ‘with Israel’ or ‘against it’ – fail to capture the lived reality of many in the community.
The opportunity is in recognising that this moment, however difficult, also forces a reckoning with fundamental questions: what role Israel plays in Jewish life; how Jewish values should shape responses to conflict; and how Jewish identity is negotiated in times of crisis.
Israel has long been understood as a source of hope, a haven, a cultural centre and a unifying force in Jewish life. The last three years have complicated that picture. Can we embrace the complexity of the moment as part of a deeper and more mature Jewish identity? Whether our community allows space for moral questioning and emotional tension or seeks to flatten them into a single, unified position will play a key role in shaping our future.
Ultimately, the relationship between British Jews and Israel is not static. It evolves in response to events, experiences and changing contexts, and evolves in multiple directions at once. We need to recognise these tensions and find a way to allow complexity, or they risk tearing us apart.
Originally published in The Jewish News
Omri Gal Kornblum
Director of Communications
Omri Gal Kornblum
Director of Communications
Omri holds a Master’s degree in Political Communication and a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and International Relations, both from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He...
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