How Jewish are the Milibands?

At last Britain’s Jewish community has something to celebrate. Not since Disraeli has Britain had a Jewish Prime Minister (although let’s not forget that Disraeli was a practising Christian); now we have not one, but two bright, young, attractive Jewish boys running for the Labour leadership. The Miliband brothers have left every Jewish mother in the country wondering if either of them is single.

But we shouldn’t start dancing the hora just yet: both the Miliband brothers seem to be having a bit of an identity crisis: are they Jewish? Jew-ish? Ethnically Jewish atheists? Does it even matter? Apparently so, or neither brother would have bothered commenting on their ‘identity’ and no questions would have been asked. David has said recently that, though he considers himself atheist, ‘being Jewish must have an influence on the way I think. I am the child of Jewish immigrants and that is a very important part of my identity ... if you try to analyse where I stand politically, it would be very difficult to do so without reference to my roots.’

When David was made Foreign Secretary many were quick to draw attention to the possible implications of his Jewish background, which, as the BBC commented, would be ‘noted particularly in the Middle East. Many Israelis and Jews around the world will welcome the fact that someone with his dramatic family history has made it into the high offices in British and world diplomacy.’

It is impossible to say whether his Jewish background and ‘dramatic family history’ influenced his decisions regarding Israel. As Foreign Secretary, he deftly navigated the dove-hawk divide, rarely revealing his personal views. Most telling were his powerful words at the patrons’ dinner of the UJIA (United Jewish Israel Appeal — a charity that supports young people and education in Israel and the UK) in 2008. He said that ‘it is Israel which breathes new life into Jewish people’. His campaign to be Labour leader has received several large donations from prominent Jews.

Younger brother Ed, meanwhile, seems to be positioning himself towards the far left of the spectrum. Clearly worried that his recent statement on Israel following the flotilla furore — ‘We need to be a friend of Israel, but a critical friend’ — wasn’t enough, he has acquired his own anti-Israel activist, Joseph Brown. After all, nothing cements a ‘critical’ friendship with Israel quite like keeping a rampant anti-Zionist on staff, who, in the wake of Operation Cast Lead, uttered the words ‘I loaded the bullets in, aimed, fired and shot down that Zionist’ while pretending to wield a machine gun during a protest. Jewish students, baffled at the sight of LSE’s Anti-Racism Officer (oh, the irony) going Rambo, felt intimidated and complained. Yet Team Ed has decided it was merely ‘silly behaviour’ and is keeping Joseph — or ‘Seph’ as he likes to be known — on the campaign in a ‘Web Ed’ capacity.

Team Ed isn’t just distancing itself from anything vaguely resembling friendship with Israel. One of his advisers (no, not Seph) recently described Ed (off the record, of course) as being ‘less Jewish’ than his big brother. What this means is unclear, but seeing as neither brother was brought up Jewish, and they’ve described themselves as being non-religious, it is unlikely to be referring to something as innocent as how often they attend shul. Could it possibly refer to Ed’s determination to win the anti-Zionist vote while his brother pursues the Jewish vote?

As public opinion towards Israel continues to worsen — even our Prime Minister has jumped on the bandwagon, describing Gaza as a ‘prison camp’ — the number of anti-Semitic incidents keeps rising. According to the Community Security Trust, last year there were 924 anti-Semitic attacks, of which 66 per cent included references to Israel and the Middle East, up from 55 per cent in 2006. As Shimon Peres put it last month, ‘there is in England a saying that an anti-Semite is someone who hates the Jews more than is necessary’. It is perhaps unsurprising that Ed has been marketing himself as ‘less Jewish’, if only to gain the support of the notoriously anti-Israel trade unions. As Robin Shepherd, author of A State Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem with Israel, points out, ‘You’re not going to get elected as Labour party leader if you fly the flag for Israel ... Israel is a very unpopular cause, especially on the left.’

Ed hasn’t lost sight of the Jewish vote altogether, however. In a joint interview with David for totallyjewish.com a couple of weeks after Joseph Brown was revealed to be working on his campaign, he had changed from saying that Labour needed to be ‘a critical friend to Israel’ to saying that Labour needed to be ‘a true friend’. So, which is it, Ed, ‘critical’ or ‘true’?

Ed’s confusion reflects an unease at the heart of British Jewish identity. He was born Jewish and has commented on his Jewish identity and its importance when it comes to his understanding of family and community. But that’s where it ends. Like many young diaspora Jews, he seemingly has no affiliation with Israel. But can identity exist without a vehicle? Robin Shepherd maintains that ‘Jewish identity, in common with all other comparable types of identity, has no future in the world without something to make it substantial and durable. Identity is not an empty shell.’ For those British Jews who don’t adhere to the Jewish faith, ‘there is one, and only one, available way to retrieve durability to their Jewish identity ... to locate a deep and enduring affiliation with the Jewish State of Israel’ — the two are thus inextricably linked. Without any firm mental ties to Israel, ‘Jewishness as a meaningful locus of identity risks disappearing almost completely in a matter of a few generations.’

This is certainly a view echoed by Peter Beinart in his recent essay for the New York Review of Books, ‘The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment’, that discusses Jewish young people’s disconnection with Israel. Jewish students foster an ‘uncomfortable Zionism’, he concluded, ‘a Zionism angry at what Israel risks becoming, and in love with what it still could be. Let’s hope they care enough to try.’

Discussing American Jewish identity is of course far easier than discussing British Jewish identity, which has always been more precarious, and arguably never really existed anyway. The Anglo-Jewry is in the midst of a long and enduring identity crisis, far worse than that which Beinart speaks of in the US. As Anthony Julius, author of Trials of the Diaspora, tells me, ‘There is no significant Jewish identity [in the UK] any more.’

Which is why, now, more than ever, it is important that British Jews (whether or not we are religious) try to keep hold of whatever scraps of our identity remain. The Milibands are in a position to inspire younger generations — and they should. Ed should decide to send his anti-Zionist campaigner packing and promote a more constructive view of Israel. David might remember the ‘modern, truthful and confident Polish identity’ he wrote about last year when he visited the new Museum of Polish Jews, and find a way of bringing a confident, proud British Jewish identity to the pinnacle of British politics. I hope that Milibands D. and E. at least care enough to try.