'Political football': How U.K. Jews are caught between Britain's racist far-right and the anti-Zionist far left

This episode of the Haaretz Podcast examines the seismic political shifts in the UK following recent local elections, which saw a dramatic collapse of the Labour Party, a surge in support for the far-right Reform UK led by Nigel Farage, and significant gains by the Green Party. The discussion centers on how these results reflect a deepening polarization, particularly around issues of anti-Semitism, Israel, and the Gaza War. Hagar Shazaf and Esther Solomon analyze how the British Jewish community finds itself caught between two hostile political forces: the far-left Green Party, which, despite its Jewish leader Zach Polanski, is accused of enabling anti-Semitic rhetoric, and the far-right Reform UK, which courts Jewish voters with promises of protection while harboring its own anti-immigrant and Islamophobic tendencies. The episode reveals a painful dilemma for British Jews—unable to fully trust either extreme, yet increasingly isolated from mainstream political coalitions. The conversation also draws parallels with France and Germany, where Jewish communities have historically rejected cooperation with far-right parties, suggesting a potential shift in UK Jewish political strategy that could have long-term consequences for both domestic politics and UK-Israel relations.