World Jewish News

British Jewish leader: 'Britain's Jews have obvious concerns about the consequences of Brexit for them'

British Jews have obvious concerns about the consequences of Brexit for them, Gillian Merron, Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told European Jewish Press (EJP).

‘’We are concerned about what would the impact be of having no more voice on the European table. We would lose that of course. Britain is a useful voice on the matter of Israel,’’ she said in an interview in the Europeran Parliament in Brussels where she participated in a conference on 100 years since the Balfour Declaration.

‘’There s also concern for example about the cost of Jewish living as it would be a problem in the terms of the cost of import of kosher meat and the consequences on other religious practices,’’ she added.

‘’However there is not one Jewish view on that issue. There is no unanimity. There was as much a debate among British Jews as on any other issue.’’

‘’But for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which represents the whole of the Jewish community, it would not be appropriate to take a line on that,’' she stressed.

Gillian Merron, who is a former British Labour Party Member of Parliament, acknowledged that anti-Semitism is at a high level in the UK as confirmed by the latest report. ‘’Anti-Semitism continues to be awakened in various countries across Europe but we never can be complacent as anti-Semitism can be best described as a ‘’light sleeper’’.’’

‘’ We saw in Britain an all-time high record during the Israel-Gaza conflict in 2014 as activities in the Middle East spilled over into Britain. It can never be the case, it is unacceptable to import the conflict into Europe. If one wishes to criticise the policy of Israel it is a democratic right to do that but is is never an excuse for taking an anti-Semitic line. We fight anti-Semitism coming from the far-right and far-left. We must continue to be ever vigilant.’’

‘’There is a debate among those who conducted the latest research as to whether the high level of anti-Semitism comes as a consequence of higher awareness and much discussion in the political sphere.’’ ‘’As people are more aware, reporting happens more often,’’ she said.

EJP