Three out of 10 Britons believe Jews have been both victims and aggressors in “roughly equal measure” through history, a survey suggests.
Some 51% thought Jews had been mostly victims, the poll for the Holocaust Centre in Nottinghamshire found.
A third believed criticism of Israel was legitimate in some circumstances, but often covered up antisemitism.
Of the 1,015 adults surveyed, 23% said criticism of Israel was always legitimate as part of political debate.
The survey showed 43% of people thought there was not enough emphasis on teaching the Holocaust in schools.
Dr Stephen Smith, director of the Holocaust Centre, said: “After centuries of discrimination, expulsions and pogroms culminating in the Holocaust, it suggests a lack of historical perspective that almost a third of those interviewed think of Jews as being as likely to be aggressors as victims”.
