Forty per cent of Jews 'would seriously consider leaving UK' if Jeremy Corbyn wins election - poll
2 min read
Forty per cent of British Jews would "seriously consider" leaving the country if Jeremy Corbyn becomes Prime Minister, according to a new poll.
The Survation study for the Jewish Chronicle also found that more than half of those aged 35-54 would think about quitting the UK under a Labour government.
However, some 52% of British Jews told the pollsters - who most accurately predicted last year's general election result - that they would remain in the country.
But asked to react to two statements, “If Jeremy Corbyn became Prime Minister I would seriously consider emigrating” and “…I would not seriously consider emigrating”, 38.53 per cent of the 710 British Jews polled for the survey said they would consider emigrating.
Jonathan Goldstein, chair of the Jewish Leadership Council, said it was "deeply worrying” that "members of our community would even consider leaving Britain because they feel threatened by the prospect of our potential next Prime Minister".
The findings emerged after Mr Corbyn sparked a fresh row despite Labour finally adopting the internationally-recognised definition of anti-Semitism, albeit with a caveat defending "free speech" on Israel.
The Labour leader failed in a separate attempt to give Labour members the right to call the foundation of Israel "racist".
In a statement to a meeting of the party's National Executive Committee, he said: "It cannot be racist to treat Israel like any other state or assess its conduct against the standards of international law. Nor should it be regarded as anti-Semitic to describe Israel, its policies or the circumstances around its foundation as racist because of their discriminatory impact, or to support another settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict."
But Mr Corbyn was forced to abandon the text after it became clear that it was not supported by most NEC members - including many of his own allies.
Meanwhile, Labour MPs and peers yesterday overwhelmingly agreed to adopt the IHRA definition into their own rule book.
Jennifer Gerber, director of Labour Friends of Israel, said: "Today's vote by the parliamentary Labour party stands in stark and welcome contrast with yesterday's decision by Jeremy Corbyn and his allies on the NEC to refuse once again to do as the Jewish community has repeatedly asked: to adopt IHRA in full without additions, omissions or caveats.
"Until the Labour party does so, it cannot even begin to address the antisemitism crisis which has caused British Jews such justifiable hurt and offence."
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