Following the stabbing attack in Golders Green, Anglo Jewish leaders - secular and religious alike - appeared in the media with a similar response: Jews must raise their voices and protest to the government over the lack of security for the Jewish population in Great Britain.
Most of the statements carried a pleading, submissive, and supplicatory tone. Others were somewhat more demanding, but given the rising violence in England, even they sounded deferential. It is possible that this soft tone is rooted in English norms of politeness. For now, none of the Jewish leaders have called on Anglo Jews, who are in danger, to immigrate to Israel.
Appealing to the British government to protect the country’s Jews from rising antisemitic violence is akin to a mother rabbit begging a fox to guard her kits. Let us briefly examine the history of England’s treatment of the Jews.
Middle Ages
From the late 11th century, the English Church supported the Crusades, during which anti-Jewish preaching and violence occurred. Jews in England faced repeated persecution, including massacres (notably in London and York), forced conversions, and social exclusion. This culminated in the 1290 expulsion of Jews from England under King Edward I, ending organized Jewish life there until their readmission in the 17th century.
Modern period and the Zionist movement
With the decline of Ottoman rule and the rise of Zionism, Britain became central to Jewish national aspirations after World War I. The 1917 Balfour Declaration expressed British support for a “national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, later incorporated into the League of Nations Mandate.
However, implementation was contested and politically constrained. Arab opposition and British imperial considerations led to limits on Jewish immigration and land purchases, and in 1921-22, Transjordan was separated from the Mandate area intended for Jewish settlement.
Intercommunal violence and British policy shifts
During the Mandate period, violence between Jews and Arabs escalated, including the 1929 riots (notably in Hebron and Safed) and the 1936-39 Arab revolt. British responses often included investigative commissions and policy adjustments that increasingly restricted Jewish immigration, which was interpreted by some as prioritizing stability over Zionist commitments.
The Peel Commission (1937) proposed partition, but Arab rejection and British reconsideration led to abandonment of the plan.
The 1939 White Paper and World War II
The 1939 White Paper sharply limited Jewish immigration and land acquisition and rejected the establishment of a Jewish state. This policy remained in force during World War II, restricting Jewish escape routes during the Holocaust. Britain did allow some rescue efforts (such as the Kindertransport), but broader immigration was tightly controlled.
Postwar period and end of the Mandate
After World War II, Britain continued restricting Jewish immigration, including intercepting refugee ships such as the Exodus 1947. Jewish underground groups resisted British rule, leading to escalating conflict. Britain eventually referred the issue to the United Nations, which recommended partition in 1947. Britain withdrew in 1948, and the State of Israel was established.
Western Wall and religious restrictions
During the Mandate, Britain maintained Ottoman-era “status quo" arrangements at the Western Wall, limiting Jewish religious practices there to avoid conflict. These restrictions were viewed by many Jews as unjust limitations on religious freedom.
Therefore, given England’s historical hostility toward the Jewish people and Israel, it is disappointing to see Anglo Jewish leaders appealing submissively to non-Jewish British authorities, expecting salvation from them. We believe that Jews should recognize that the era of flourishing in Britain has ended and that there is no future for Jews who remain in exile.
After the Holocaust, the world was ashamed of the scale of evil allowed against the Jews. Out of remorse, Western countries allowed Jewish flourishing, but that era has ended; a new generation has arisen "that does not remember," and in its eyes Israel has become the oppressor of today. The Creator calls us to return home. Years before World War II, Rabbi Kook warned that if European Jews refused to hear the “shofar of redemption," they would instead hear the sound of a “false shofar"-Hitlers and the like. That false shofar is again sounding loudly in our ears. This time, may we heed the call.