14 No. 78 JUSTICE esterday, June 22, 2026, Britain saw the resignation of a Prime Minister only two years after winning a landslide election. Today Westminster is already turning its attention to who might replace him. For years, Israelis looked at Britain as the model of political stability and continuity. Britain looked at Israel as the country that changed governments every few months. Looking at events today, I am no longer entirely sure which country is supposed to be setting the example. Political instability is not the most important story. What concerns me far more is what recent events tell us about the health of democratic society and about the position of Jewish communities both in the UK, and across the West. Yesterday, members of the British Parliament debated a petition calling for an investigation into what was described as “pro-Israel influence on UK politics and democracy.” Now let me be clear. Parliament should debate difficult issues. Free societies depend upon argument. No government, no institution and no country should be immune from criticism. That includes Israel. Indeed, some of the strongest criticism I hear about the current Israeli government comes from my neighbors in Tel Aviv — because Israel has a robust, if sometimes also unruly, public square. But democratic societies depend upon our ability to distinguish between criticism and prejudice, between scrutiny and suspicion, between legitimate investigation and conspiracy theory. As Shadow Attorney General, I spend much of my political life thinking about the role of law in a democratic society. One of the most important functions of law is to draw distinctions. Britain should investigate hostile foreign interference. Britain should investigate espionage. Britain should investigate covert influence operations by hostile states. Russia, China and Iran all pose genuine challenges to our national security. But democracies must be equally careful not to confuse foreign interference with the lawful participation of their own citizens in public life. The moment we begin treating ordinary political engagement as inherently suspect, we weaken the very freedoms we claim to defend. And that is why many British Jews viewed yesterday’s debate with concern. Not because they fear debate. Not because they oppose scrutiny. But because they recognize certain patterns. The language changes. The political context changes. The targets change. Yet the underlying suggestion can sometimes sound remarkably familiar. The notion that Jews, or those associated with the Jewish State, possess hidden influence requiring special investigation is not a new allegation. It is one of the oldest lies in history. It appeared in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It was propagated by the Nazis. And it continues to appear today in different forms, adapted for different audiences. For many British Jews, this debate therefore felt uncomfortably close to a narrative with which we are all too familiar. I felt some of these changes personally after October 7. I am not going to pretend that what I went through was anything remotely comparable to the suffering of others. But let me tell you what kept me awake at night — something which sounds absurdly prosaic. It was my daughter travelling on the London Underground. For the first time in my life, I found myself wondering whether a Jewish young woman wearing a Magen David could travel around parts of our capital without feeling vulnerable. That thought would have seemed extraordinary to me only a few years ago. Not because Britain was free from antisemitism. Sadly, no society has ever been entirely free from antisemitism. But because many British Jews had come to regard their place in British society as secure, accepted and uncontroversial. After October 7, many people suddenly realized that assumptions they had taken for granted throughout their lives could no longer be taken entirely for granted. That has been one of the most painful consequences of the last twenty months. Not simply the increase in antisemitic incidents. Not simply the abuse. Not simply the intimidation. Protecting the British Jewish Community* David Wolfson * Edited address delivered at the JNS Conference, Jerusalem, June 23, 2026. Y
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