A third of Christians in the United Kingdom believe Jewish people “still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust,” and one in six blame Jews for “most wars,” according to a new survey published Thursday.
The study found that young British Christians are less sympathetic towards Israel and hold more antisemitic views than older generations, with theological beliefs relating to Jesus and the Jews being a strong predictor of anti-Jewish beliefs.
The December 2024 study of more than 2,000 Christians of all ages across the United Kingdom was conducted by author and Jewish studies professor Motti Inbari of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Kirill Bumin of Boston University and Metropolitan College.
Speaking with The Times of Israel, Inbari said the survey revealed some surprising findings about the state of religion in the UK. While 2021 census figures showed a sharp 13 percent decline in the number of people identifying as Christians compared to a decade earlier, the data shows an uptick in religious observance among young people in recent years.
“There seems to be a religious revival happening right now in the UK, especially among young people, and that is something that isn’t happening elsewhere in the world,” Inbari said. “If you look at the data about how often young people are going to church or reading the bible, you can see that the trend is reversing.”
But there is a surprising twist.
“In the United States, conservative religious views are connected with support for Israel,” Inbari said. “However, in the UK, these views are linked with more antisemitic attitudes.”
Motti Inbari (Courtesy)
These differences are likely attributable to the local cultural milieu and the impact of social media, Inbari speculated, although he said more research was necessary.
The survey found antisemitic beliefs were common among respondents. Roughly one in six agreed with the statement that it’s “definitely not antisemitic to say that Israel doesn’t have the right to exist,” and 26% said it is “probably true” that Jews “don’t care what happens to anyone but their own kind.”
Some 46% said Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the UK, and 24% said Jews have too much control over global affairs.
Religious beliefs relating to Jews were found to be a significant predictor of antisemitic beliefs, the report found, with Christians who believe that God’s biblical covenant with the Jewish people has ended or never existed, and who support the accusation that Jews are responsible for the murder of Jesus, found to be the most likely to hold antisemitic views.
Some 31% of respondents endorsed the idea that the biblical covenant has ended, while only 9% believe that Jews are responsible for crucifying Jesus, the report said.
Meanwhile, believing that Christians should support Israel and that the existence of the Jewish state is important for the fulfillment of biblical prophecy are among the most significant causes of Christian support for Israel, the study found.
A visitor to the Bethlehem Unwrapped exhibition at St. James’s Church in London writes on a replica of the separation barrier, January 2, 2014 (photo credit: Elhanan Miller/Times of Israel)
Sympathies among UK Christians were almost equally split on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, with 24% supporting Israel and 23% backing the Palestinians. Another 36% said they were neutral, and 17% “didn’t know.”
Almost half of respondents (47%) said they believe Israel has committed “genocide” in the Gaza Strip, and 39% believe Israel has deliberately targeted Palestinian civilians, the study showed.
One-third of young Christians aged 18-29 express support for Palestinians, compared to 19% supporting Israel. Only 14% indicated “strong support” for Israel, compared with 22% of those aged over 65.
In general, British Christians are less supportive of Israel and less likely to view Jewish people positively than Americans, where research shows that 42% support Israel in the conflict, the report noted.
Across Christian sects, Protestants held higher levels of support for Israel than Roman Catholics, the least pro-Israel Christian denomination. People identifying as Asian were more likely to endorse antisemitic views than those in other demographics, the report found.
The survey included respondents of all denominations, ages, ethnicities and genders who said they had a Christian upbringing or were practicing Christians themselves. Its margin of error is 3%, the researchers said.
The report was funded by Chosen People Ministries, a Christian organization that tries to evangelize Jews.
“They only provided the funding, but the report was produced completely independently,” Inbari clarified.
The findings of the report are “like a mirror, showing us exactly where Christians in the UK stand — and it’s deeply concerning,” said Chosen People CEO Mitch Glaser.
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