By Lianne Kolirin
The chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews has expressed his “absolute belief” in Sir Keir Starmer’s “root and branch” approach to stamping out antisemitism.
Michael Wegier said the Jewish community experienced “a very difficult period” when Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader but that his successor was making amends.
Speaking to Roger Bolton for the Religion Media Centre’s Big Interview, Mr Wegier said: “I think the Jewish community mainly is very satisfied.” Nevertheless, “we don’t think that the job is complete”, he said.
The problem remains in parts of the local constituent party and areas of the trade union movement where “the views of people who supported Corbyn are still prevalent and there remains some denial about what happened and the scale of it,” Mr Wegier explained.
The Board of Deputies, which describes itself as “the voice of the British Jewish community,” comprises more than 300 deputies directly elected by the synagogues and communal organisations they represent.
Wegier, who describes himself as a “centrist” ruffled some feathers last year when, under his leadership, the board tweeted to say that Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionist Party and then a member of the Israeli Knesset, was not welcome in Britain.
The board, UK Jewry’s mainstream umbrella organisation, tweeted in Hebrew that it “reject[ed] the abominable views and the hate-provoking ideology of Bezalel Smotrich”, adding: “Get back on the plane, Bezalel, and be remembered as a disgrace for ever.”
Mr Wegier said: “The board made quite a public statement about a then member of the Israeli Knesset who was coming to the UK, who we believed should not be visiting our Jewish community because he has views which we find very disturbing and racist. We called it out and that actually went viral, our tweet.”
Since then, Mr Smotrich has been appointed finance minister in Binyamin Netanyahu’s new government, the furthest-right in Israel’s history.
Disagreeing with hardline government policies does not amount to antisemitism, Mr Wegier said, highlighting huge pro-democracy demonstrations in Israel in recent weeks.
“There’s nothing remotely antisemitic about criticising the actions of the state of Israel. Where it becomes problematic is when people use the old myths of antisemitism in order to describe Israelis in a given way,” he said.
Examples of this would be using, he said, “old antisemitic mythology” such as “blood libel accusations” or the suggestion that Israel is controlling Britain and the United States.
“That’s when it becomes antisemitism,” he said. “Antisemitism will suit the needs of whoever wants to be an antisemite. It’s the ultimate othering.”
Antisemitism grounded in Christian ideology argues that “Jews killed Christ”, he said. “There’s antisemitism that’s grounded in Marxism — that Jews control capital. There’s antisemitism that comes through racial theories — that Jews are racially impure.”
Combating ignorance is high on the board’s agenda, he said. “Because so many people in the UK live in areas where there isn’t a Jewish community, or only a very, very tiny Jewish community, we are developing an educational programme now which will present to secondary school pupils to get an understanding of who are the British Jewish community. What do they think? What do they believe? What are the issues? How do we deal with things like antisemitism?”
The need for education has, in part, grown from the changing demographic of Britain’s Jewish community. “A hundred years ago there were Jews in small towns throughout the UK and today what we are seeing is that most Jews are now either in north London or in Manchester,” he said.
Based on the 2021 Census, the Jewish community makes up less than 0.5 per cent of the population of England and Wales, according to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.
That is considerably down from about 400,000 in the 1970s, Mr Wegier said, explaining that several factors — including declining fertility and secularisation — have played a role.
“While there are small and vibrant communities in places like Leeds and Brighton and Glasgow and a few others, we are undeniably seeing a shift of the Jewish community out of small communities to London and Manchester and that’s something that gives all of us some pause for thought and concentration with regards to strategic planning.”
Jewish identity can be incredibly complex, he said. “There are people who express their Judaism through religious identity, some who express it more through an ethnic identity or a communal identity,” he said.
While he regularly goes to synagogue, his own identity is not grounded in theology, he said: “It’s more a community tradition and belonging issue.”
The Charedi, or Ultra Orthodox, make up “an important and growing part” of the Jewish community. Mr Wegier denied that there was a strong anti-Israel sentiment among this section: that had been “a phenomenon in the 1930s and 1940s” during the debate around Israel’s creation but that that opposition has “simply dissipated” with the small number of those who continue to oppose it being “statistically irrelevant”.
The board aims to “represent the views of the Jewish community where we think there’s a reasonable consensus,” he said — although this isn’t always straightforward.
“When the board says something about an issue we will often be criticised by the very far left for being too right wing, or the very far right for being too left wing, or by everybody for being too vague — or if we don’t comment on something we are then criticised for having said nothing. So, whatever we do we know we are going to upset some people,” he said.
“However, what’s really important here is I think that the vast majority of British Jews want to see a Jewish community that’s robust, that’s comfortable, that’s proud, that’s very secure in its relationship to British society and that wants good relations with other faith communities, that wants to see a secure and safe Israel.”
One issue that has divided opinion is the plan for a national Holocaust Memorial, and the debate rumbles on. The board’s support, however, is unequivocal. Mr Wegier said: “While there are Jewish voices who are opposed to the location of the Holocaust memorial — and I respect those people — the organised Jewish community, of which I lead professionally one of the main bodies, we are absolutely unified in our position.”
Putting the memorial near Westminster would be a “very very public statement about the importance of the Holocaust”, as well as Britain’s wartime involvement.
The media is also a bone of contention. Last year Ofcom found that the BBC made “significant editorial failings” in reporting an antisemitic attack on Jewish students on a London bus. The BBC reported that an anti-Muslim slur was heard from the bus, but the board and the Chief Rabbi were among many who complained to the broadcaster about its accuracy and impartiality.
“We do think there was a specific problem in the newsroom that night, and the BBC was wrong,” Mr Wegier said, although that he vehemently denied any suggestion of systemic antisemitism.
“We believe the BBC is a wonderful organisation that contributes huge amounts to British public life, and the board will not be associated with any sort of demonisation of the BBC.”
While it is a “difficult job,” Mr Wegier says he is “enriched” by it — adding that his “optimism” and “passionate moderation” remain.
Listen to the RMC Big Interview with Michael Wegier on all podcast platforms and our website here
