Quote of the day 14th January 2026

From a  report on a speech this week at Policy Exchange by the UK's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC:

Goodness knows it should be possible to criticise the actions of the present government of Israel - and some of their actions should be criticised - without stirring up hatred of all Israeli citizens, let alone all Jews, but we have all seen both those lines crossed again and again.

Jonathan Hall was immediately accused of conflating Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism. I think that charge is both unfair and says a great deal about those who attacked him.

The first response to those who accuse Mr Hall of conflating anti-Zionism and antisemitism is that in none of the quotes I have seen of his speech use the expression "Anti-Zionism." What he criticised, and pointed out is defined as racism under the Public Order act 1986, was stirring up hatred against Israel and Israeli citizens living in Britain. 

Those who accuse him of conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism appear themselves to have conflated disagreement with the existence of Israel with stirring up hatred against Israel and the fact that they make that mistake is extremely telling.

This leads into my second response which is that Anti-Zionism and antisemitism had already been widely conflated by the antisemites themselves, and we cannot effectively combat racism and antisemitism without dealing with that conflation.

Not all anti-Zionists are antisemites, but the vast majority of those people in Britain today who actually are antisemites describe their position as anti-Zionist.

Jonathan Hall added that there is a “palpable” national security risk when police prioritised maintaining public order over applying the law, particularly during pro-Palestinian protests where chants such as “death to the IDF” or “globalise the intifada” went unchallenged.

Hall added in his speech that – for some people – any signs of Israeli life were “illegitimate”.

He added: “There have been protests against Israeli-owned restaurants and bakeries in London and Australia and the United States. In Australia, a restaurant with Israeli ownership was attacked by protesters shouting ‘Death to the IDF’.

“Israelis are a group like any other whose individual members, like members of any other group, deserve protection. We have lost our collective senses if, as a society, we permit the demonising of holders of any nationality who live in our tolerant and open society.”

Asked who should be held responsible for failing to protect Israelis, Hall replied: “Ultimately, police have got to be responsible for the safety of their citizens. And I include expressly within that Israeli citizens as well as Jews living among them.”

He told the audience at the Policy Exchange thinktank that he had “lost count” of the times that hatred against Israelis had been “stirred up” on British streets.

I think it is important to add the reason why I agree with Jonathan Hall and disagree with his critics like Professor David Feldman, director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, who said (my italics and underline:) 

“There are reasons why Israel’s actions excite condemnation and anger. It is a sad fact that sometimes protest slips into antisemitism and occasionally targets individual Israelis living in this country. But any suggestion that these failings characterise anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel in general is wide of the mark.”

Sometimes? Occasionally?

What planet is Professor Feldman on? It is happening every day!