What's Driving British vs. American Christians' Views on Israel, Jews?

A new survey explores why British Christians purportedly have a lower opinion of Israel and Jews than their American peers.

Mitch Glaser, president of Chosen People Ministries, told The Christian Post that antisemitic perspectives could have a negative impact on sharing the Gospel with the Jewish people. He said he’s hoping to help Christians navigate these issues and stop any semblance of anti-Jewish sentiment.

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“I’ll speak at a church in the South, and then some Christian will come to the back to tell me how much they enjoyed my sermon, and then they’ll make a joke about Jews and money,” Glaser said. “They’re my brother and sister, and I know they’re ignorant, or maybe they really are antisemitic, at least on that trope.”

He continued, “I love my brothers and sisters, and I just want them not to do that.”

Glaser, who was born into an Orthodox Jewish home before finding Jesus, recently presided over the release of the study titled, “A Survey of British Christian Attitudes Towards the Israel-Palestine Conflict: Faith, Politics and Perception.”

The data collected was compared to another study in March 2024 that looked at U.S. Christians’ perspectives. Overall, 58.5% of American believers have a favorable view of Jews; just 50.6% of British Christians feel the same.

But the larger gap unfolded when it came to support for Israel, with 42.3% of American Christians supporting the Jewish state; just 23.6% of British Christians said the same.

Study author Kirill Bumin, associate dean of Metropolitan College at Boston University, said exposure to Jewish people might be one of the reasons for these statistical differences.

“British rarely interact with the Jewish people, both in work settings and in social life, as well as in religious settings,” Bumlin told The Christian Post. “Americans are significantly more likely to do so, particularly in those kinds of mundane interactions at work or in the neighborhoods.”

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