40% of Europe’s Jewish leaders say anti-Semitism a threat to Jewish life

Via Times of Israel:

In a survey among leaders of European Jewish communities, 40 percent of respondents maintained that anti-Semitism poses a serious threat to the future of Jewish life in their country.

But the poll figures — published Monday — also showed that alienation of Jews from Jewish life (61%), weakness of Jewish organizations (55%) and demographic decline (51%) were ranked as more pressing issues.

The results appeared in the Third Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers, which was published Monday by the International Center for Community Development of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The survey is based on replies gathered last year from 314 respondents.

The anti-Semitism fears are the highest recorded by JDC since it launched its first survey of this kind in 2008. That year, only 10 percent of respondents ranked the phenomenon as the most serious threat facing their communities. In the following survey, conducted in 2011, the figure rose to 26%.

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