As British Jews prepare to celebrate the Jewish new year they face a chilling reality – the Labour government looks set to announce what effectively amounts to a boycott of the world's only Jewish state.
For any observer of British politics, the normalisation of antisemitism has been one of the most disturbing trends in recent years. Gone are the days when antisemitism was pushed underground or confined to only the extremist fringes of our national debate.
Britain’s Jewish communities are in a state of perpetual anxiety. Fences surround their schools, synagogues and cultural institutions to protect them from those who wish to do them harm.
Once again, British Jews find themselves warning their own government that its relentless demonisation of the world’s only Jewish state risks fanning the flames of antisemitism here at home.
For years, Labour has insisted that the party has changed since Jeremy Corbyn. They tell Britain’s Jewish community that the poison which flourished under his leadership has been confronted. They hold meetings, issue statements, and promise that antisemitism will never again be tolerated.
Yet their actions tell a different story.
What has been revealed this week beyond any doubt is that while Corbyn may have lost the Labour leadership, he very much did win the argument inside the party.
For all Labour claim to have rooted out antisemitism internally, the degree of anti-Israel hatred means that Labour’s approach to many of these issues is Corbyn in all but name.
Under Keir Starmer, the government suspended arms export licences, halted trade negotiations, restored funding to UNRWA and changed Britain’s approach to the International Criminal Court. It recognised a Palestinian state while Israeli hostages remained in captivity.
But this was not enough for Andy Burnham. In one of his first interventions as an MP, he said he was sorry that Labour “got it wrong” on Gaza. According to him, they should have gone harder.
Now, his government is escalating its campaign against Israel, throwing British interests under the bus to win back Islamist and far left activist votes.
Any decision to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank will become a de facto boycott on Israel given the difficulty any British business will face separating “legitimate” and “illegitimate” activities. It will inflame protests and violence against businesses that trade with Israel.
This matters because antisemitism does not exist in a vacuum.
The government itself has acknowledged that hatred of Israel has been at the heart of some of the antisemitism we have witnessed since October 7. Ministers therefore cannot simultaneously recognise that connection and behave as though the relentless demonisation and singling out of Israel has no effect on the atmosphere in Britain.
Labour says it wants to reassure Jewish families. So why does its politics so often validate the activists and Islamists whose demonisation of Israel is rooted in one thing: the rejection of a Jewish presence in the land of Israel?
Labour says foreign policy should advance peace. So why are decisions being driven by pressure from its own left flank over who can take the hardest line against Israel?
Labour says national security comes first. So why is it prepared to jeopardise one of Britain's most important security relationships and damage our international standing with the United States?
My Shadow Foreign Secretary, Tom Tugendhat, understands this better than most. As a former security minister and soldier, he knows that foreign policy is not an undergraduate debating society. Israel is an important intelligence partner. Israeli intelligence has helped British authorities prevent terrorist attacks and protect British lives.
A British Prime Minister's first responsibility is the safety of the British people.
This is especially serious when the threat from Iran and its proxies is not theoretical. Iranian-directed activity has threatened people on British soil. Israel confronts the same networks and the same ideology that threaten us. British citizens are alive today thanks to Israeli intelligence.
Picking unnecessary fights with a country that helps us combat terrorism is an act of national self-harm.
Labour has developed a strange moral confusion in which it can speak solemnly about antisemitism one day while driving to an increasingly hostile climate around Israel the next.
Criticism of an Israeli government is not antisemitic. No democratic government should be beyond criticism, and Conservatives have disagreed with Israeli governments before.
But Labour’s obsession with Israel is rooted in UK politics. It’s got less to do with peace in the Middle East, and more to do with trying to keep the peace in the Labour party.
British Jews should not have to watch politicians condemn antisemitism while refusing to confront the ideological movements that spread it. They should not have to listen to warm words from Downing Street while seeing Israel relentlessly presented as an international pariah.
And everyone in Britain should care.
Because this is about something larger than Israel. We cannot have a government whose political inclination at every point is to surrender, whether it is on Chagos, or at Villa Park.
The government should spend less time pandering to its partisan base and more time fixing our broken economy and getting this country back on track.
Stop allowing factional and electoral pressures to determine Britain's relationships with its allies.
You cannot claim to fight antisemitism while helping to create the political climate in which hatred of the Jewish state is used as to win votes at elections.
Labour says it understands that. It is time it started acting like it.
And, despite everything: Shana Tova – Happy New Year.
To get more from opinion, click here to sign up for our free Editor's Picks newsletter.