Britain’s 300,000 Jews can soon face a horrible political choice: Boris Johnson vs. Jeremy Corbyn.
While most American Jews vote Democratic, most of our British brethren have for long voted for Labour Party candidates because of its liberal policies. Yet for the last four years they have suffered from Post-Traumatic-Corbyn-Disorder – when Corbyn was elected the leader of a party that has since become rife with anti-Semitism and Israel bashing.
Then in July, the reigning Conservative Party elected Johnson prime minister and after a month he proceeded to suspend Parliament over the Brexit crisis. On Tuesday, a slight majority of Parliament struck back by denying Johnson the ability to control future developments on Brexit, the movement to cut ties to the European Union.
Parliament members followed up on Wednesday by refusing to hold any elections before the next deadline, Oct. 31, to follow through with Brexit, and required Johnson to take only action which would ease Brexit and avoid any hardships.
Nobody can predict what follows, and elections are a distinct possibility sometime in the near future. So far, Britain’s Jews have had the choice to vote for Parliament candidates led by Johnson or Corbyn – a quandary akin to expecting American Jews to choose between President Trump and Rashida Tlaib or Ilhan Omar, two freshman Democrats who are widely branded as anti-Semites.
Doubtful if such a scenario here will ever happen, but that very situation is developing across the pond. If it can happen there, it could happen here. That is why we need to pay special attention to British politics.
The anguish of British Jews was affirmed in a commentary written by Jewish Chronicle reporter Daniel Sugarman, who said that some Jews are considering a vote for Conservative candidates, also known as Tories, because of disgust with Corbyn.
“The vast majority of the UK’s Jewish community has made it clear that they will not countenance voting for Jeremy Corbyn,” he wrote for his London-based newspaper “Many Jewish voters reiterating what they have been saying for years have been met by a surge of indignation. Apparently, if Jews do not vote for…Labour, they will be voting for ‘Fascism.’
“I know many left-wing people who understand exactly what Jeremy Corbyn is and why the Jewish community is justifiably extremely concerned about him potentially becoming PM,” Sugarman continued. “The vast majority of British Jews will, at the very least, strongly consider voting Tory, even if a number don’t end up doing so.”
Must it be that way? Maybe Jews and other Brits will not be forced to choose between Labour and Conservative candidates. Perhaps a sizeable number of sensible candidates outside the two major parties will run for Parliament.
Previously, seven Labour members quit their party to form an independent bloc in Parliament along with some Tory deserters. On Friday, Jewish Insider reported that ex-Labourite Luciana Berger joined the Liberal Democrats, saying that the newly elected leader Jo Swinson offers “a vital, positive alternative.” Berger added, “The two-party system is over.”
A Conservative member also switched to the Liberal Democrats earlier this week after Johnson expelled 21 members from his party who voted against him, according to media reports.
Even if independent candidates cannot form a majority, they can still influence who becomes prime minister. Maybe they will strike a deal with some of the remaining Labour and Conservative members to elect a new prime minister whose name is not Johnson or Corbyn, or someone like them.
By the time new elections might be held, maybe Corbyn, Johnson or both will no longer lead their parties, anyway. After the past week, I wonder how long Johnson can survive politically.
A more recent commentary in The Jewish Chronicle touts the Liberal Democrats as a transformed party whose respect for Jews was once questionable. As the most prominent political victim of Labour’s anti-Semitism, Berger’s move to the Liberal Democrats sends a strong signal that British Jews – and their fellow citizens, for that matter – will not be caught between Labour and Conservative, writes Ben Rich.
Let’s hope so. American Jews can breathe easier that the fate of Labour will not be replicated in the Democratic Party.
Republished from San Diego Jewish World