UK’s most prominent Jewish publication rocked by accusations and walkouts

The 180-year-old Jewish Chronicle finds itself trying to cover one of the most serious crises in modern times for Israel and the Jewish people while also accused of journalistic misconduct, shifting ideologically too far to the Right and becoming a mouthpiece for the Israeli government.

The turmoil has resulted in a number of contributors and columnists refusing to write for the publication, which in addition to being the longest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world, plays a significant role serving the Jewish community in Britain.

The problems for the weekly paper, which also has a website, came to a head after it had run a number of dramatic stories and “scoops” about the war in Gaza written by the freelance journalist Elon Perry. The stories seemingly involved access to top-level intelligence sources who revealed “eye-opening details about the conflict”, reports the Daily Telegraph, resulting in, as it is known in the trade, the most compelling copy that is likely to be gobbled up by readers.

Questions, however, began to be raised about the validity of the sensational stories and their sources, ultimately leading to the JC conducting an investigation into Perry, followed by it cutting all ties with him and removing the previously published stories.

Despite the paper’s actions to rectify the situation, four of its star columnists stood down in protest: Hadley Freeman, Jonathan Freedland, David Baddiel and David Aaranovitch made it clear that the Perry scandal was, for them, the last straw following ongoing concerns about the paper’s general editorial tone and direction.

“The latest scandal brings great disgrace on the paper – publishing fabricated stories and showing the thinnest form of contrition – but it is only the latest,” Freedland commented in a letter to the paper’s editor, Jake Wallis Simons.

Critics have argued that the paper has become more right-wing and ideological under the editorship of Wallis Simons, and also increasingly aligned with the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Those writers who stood down were known to be liberal/left-leaning in their stances.

“Ever since its founding in 1841, the JC has published an idiosyncratic mix of community trivia and weighty geopolitics, but its crown jewel is (or was) its roster of columnists, some of Fleet Street’s finest,” writes Josh Glancy in The New Statesman. “The recent resignations are a blow to the paper’s claim to represent the full gamut of mainstream British Jewry.”

He notes that Freedland is a second-generation JC writer who “embodies a long tradition of high-minded liberal Jewish thought”.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Hadley Freeman said: “The Jewish Chronicle is the mainstream national newspaper for Jews in this country, and Jews represent barely half a per cent of the British population. So it is important that it represents the plurality of views of British Jews, not the Israeli government.”

Other columnists, however, have not seen it fit to resign.

“This incident is not reason enough to give up on a paper that has been a powerful and essential voice for our Jewish community for 180 years,” Naomi Greenaway, deputy editor of the Telegraph Magazine and a JC columnist, told the Telegraph. “But I have a lot of respect for the journalists who have resigned, and I’m glad it triggered the Jewish Chronicle to interrogate their editing processes.”

Wallis Simons has said he takes “full responsibility for the mistakes that have been made and I will take equal responsibility for the task of making sure nothing like this can happen again.”

Wallis Simons became editor of the paper in 2021. In addition to his editor duties, he has been an frequent contributor to news programs regarding Israel and Jewish concerns, especially since the 7 October attack by Hamas, and he often writes for the Daily Telegraph and the Spectator on such matters too.

While often arguing Israel’s case, he has also been critical of Netanyahu and the Israeli government. He has also focused on highlighting and calling out anti-Semitism, particularly its resurgence in the UK.

A major concern and ongoing issue for many in regards to the paper’s future, and which relates to editorial disagreements, is the lack of knowledge about who actually owns and is backing the JC.

Various individuals are known as acting as directors and shareholders, but when it comes to who is bank rolling the media operation – which included a recent £3.5 million loan to cover the loss-making paper, the Telegraph notes – that continues to remain unknown, and a source of continuing tension.

Josh Glancy notes he had written for the paper on and off for his entire journalistic career, and that from 2020 he wrote a regular column for the JC until he took umbrage at the “increasingly belligerent editorial direction and, more importantly, found the idea of being paid by a secret ownership increasingly unsettling”.

He concludes that the Elon Perry scandal “has upset the balance of Anglo-Jewry at a fraught moment”, explaining:

“Britain’s Jewish community is one of the country’s oldest and most successful ethnic minorities, and it has flourished, in part, thanks to its strong institutions, including the Board of Deputies, the United Synagogue, and, of course, the Jewish Chronicle.

“The paper has a critical role to play in what is sure to be a turbulent few years for British Jews.”

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Photo: Images of the Jewish Chronicle in its weekly paper form; screenshot from thejc.com.

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