Behind the Headlines British Jewry Swings to the Right

Whoever wins is likely to show that the 450,000 member Jewish community is becoming steadily more conservative in its political outlook as it progresses up the social scale and feels threatened as much from the extreme left as from the far right.

At the same time, it will again show that in Britain there is no such thing as a distinct Jewish vote, capable of influencing the result, Although the community cares deeply about Israel, there is no major difference between the main parties on the Middle East, and voters know that Britain’s influence there is marginal anyway.

Even if that were not the case, it would not make very much difference, since there is not a single constituency containing so many Jews that it can be regarded as a ” Jewish ” seat. Nevertheless, the community’s rightward swing is undeniable. Unit 1970 there were two Jewish Conservative members of Parliament. There are now nine, all of whom are seeking reelection. Their numbers are likely to increase further with a Conservative victory.

On the other hand, it looks as though the considerable Jewish influence in the Labor Party has passed its all – time peak. Of the 31 Jewish Laborites in the last Parliament, only 23 are seeking reelection, including nine of the Labor government’s 10 Jewish members.

If Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher becomes Prime Minister, she will have at least two senior Jewish Cabinet ministers — Sir Keith Joseph and Sally Oppenheim. Even in the Labor Party, Jewish MPs have displayed their “conservative” inclinations by tending to be to the center or right of the party.

DEFENDING THE STATUS QUO

Most Jewish members, Conservative as well as Labor, emerged as defendants of the status quo in the recent heated debates about giving a measure of independence to Wales and Scotland. Leading opponents of the devolution plan included Laborites Leo Abse and Eric Moonman, who is the chairman of the Zionist Federation, and conservative lawyer Leon Brittan.

Although none of them stressed that they were influenced by their Jewish background, it was hardly surprising that they felt unable to relate to local nationalisms which might one day threaten the unity of the United Kingdom. This is not to say that all Jewish politicians were against giving Wales and Scotland greater autonomy. But the Jewish community has traditionally identified its own security with the stability of the realm and most Jewish politicians instinctively expressed this in the debate on devolution.

Since it has achieved unprecedented prosperity and contentment, therefore, Anglo-Jewry will increasingly cling to the social status quo fearing that further radical changes might perhaps do it more ham than good. This, in turn, will further dilute the community’s traditional preference for the Labor Party as the party of equality.

The one possible brake on the community’s rightward shift might have been fear of the extremist National Front which plans to run more than 280 candidates. However, the Front is condemned as strongly by the Conservatives as by Labor and the smaller Liberal Party.

For its part, the Board of Deputies of British Jews has played an important part in the fight against the National Front, particularly in producing leaflets exposing its Nazi characteristics. The Board has, however, been careful not to ally itself with the country’s main anti-racist organization the left-wing Anti-Nazi Front, which it says is anti-Zionist and anti-democratic.