Glimpses Of Anglo Jewish History

Was Benjamin Disraeli the first, and so far, the only Jewish Prime Minister? Yes and No! Disraeli was born a Jew in 1804. His father was an Italian Jewish writer who had moved to London. He was a member of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue at Bevis Marks. But shortly after Benjamin’s birth he had an argument with the synagogue authorities over money and resigned. In 1817 he had the whole family baptised into the Church of England. Benjamin was articled to a solicitor, but found it boring. He tried finance but lost a lot of money and the tried writing with some little success. He wanted to get into parliament and tried, unsuccessfully, twice. Jews were barred from standing for Parliament, so he was not considered a Jew. He decided he had to join one of the parties and chose the Tories. This time, in 1837, he was elected as member for Maidstone. Eventually, in 1868, he became, for a short time, Prime Minister, but in 1874 and the next six years, he was at his height of power in his battle with Gladstone.

In the 1870s, Ismail, the ruler of Egypt had incurred massive debts and was forced to sell his 44% of the Suez Canal. The British Foreign Office decided not to buy them. But Disraeli spoke with Lionel de Rothschild, now a Jewish Member of Parliament and head of the Rothschild Bank. Jews were allowed to stand for Parliament since 1858. In just four hours, Rothschild raised the £4,000,000 needed to buy the shares. Between them Disraeli purchased the canal for the UK. Subsequently, the government ratified the purchase and Rothschild was repaid the loan. Disraeli was halachaly a Jew, although baptised. Rothschild was Jewish and between them they served the UK very well. A later Prime Minister, Lord Rosebery, was not Jewish, but he married Hannah de Rothschild. One of the few Rothschilds, to marry out. So there was a genuine Jew in Downing Street.