On July 8th 2026 JewishERGs attended a briefing at the House of Lords on a new report from NGO Monitor examining the network behind post-October 7 anti-Israel protests and mobilisation campaigns in the UK. The report, Imported Influence: Foreign Funding, Regulatory Black Holes and Extremist Connections of the Post-October 7 UK Protest Infrastructure, maps 40 major protest and mobilisation campaigns and identifies organisations and individuals that it says play recurring roles in coordination, advocacy and funding. According to NGO Monitor, the activity is not simply a collection of spontaneous grassroots campaigns, but part of a wider, professionally organised and internationally connected network. The report also raises questions about funding, transparency and regulatory oversight.
For JewishERGs, the significance of these findings extends beyond the streets, political debate or public demonstrations:
When external activity enters the workplace
Jewish employees do not experience the wider environment in isolation from their working lives. Political campaigns, protest movements and narratives circulating in wider society can influence workplace conversations, organisational culture and the experiences of Jewish employees. For those leading Jewish Employee Resource Groups, this can create particularly difficult circumstances: they may find themselves responding to issues that originate outside their organisation but nevertheless have a direct impact on Jewish colleagues inside it.
What happens outside the office does not necessarily stay outside the office.
Jewish employees may encounter political messaging in internal discussions, questions from colleagues, debates on social issues, pressure around organisational positions or changes in the atmosphere surrounding Jewish identity and Israel. This makes it increasingly important for employers to understand the external environment in which these conversations are taking place.
Building awareness, not alarm
JewishERGs’ role is not to suggest that every political campaign or protest is inherently antisemitic, nor that every employee who participates in a particular campaign represents a threat to Jewish colleagues. Rather, we believe employers need to be equipped to recognise when external activity begins to affect the workplace and creates an environment in which it becomes harder for Jewish employees to feel safe, included or able to express their identity. The NGO Monitor report highlights the scale and complexity of the UK protest infrastructure, including international links and funding relationships that it argues warrant greater scrutiny and transparency. For JewishERGs, understanding these networks and their operations is part of understanding the environment in which Jewish employees and ERG leaders are working in.
Supporting Jewish ERG leaders
Jewish ERG leaders can find themselves on the frontline of these conversations. They may be expected to explain Jewish perspectives, respond to contentious workplace discussions or advise colleagues and senior leaders on issues that are evolving rapidly outside the organisation. That is why JewishERGs believes employers need to do more than simply establish an ERG and expect its volunteers to navigate these challenges alone.
Jewish ERG leaders need context, confidence and support.
Employers need to understand the pressures their Jewish employees may be facing and be prepared to distinguish legitimate political debate from behaviour or workplace dynamics that cross the line into antisemitism, hostility or exclusion. JewishERGs will continue to monitor developments in the external environment that have the potential to affect Jewish employees at work, helping Jewish leaders and employers understand the wider context and respond thoughtfully and confidently.
The workplace cannot be separated from the wider environment
The briefing at the House of Lords reinforced an important point for JewishERGs: the challenges facing Jewish employees are not created solely within the workplace. They are shaped by the wider social, political and cultural environment — and organisations need to understand that context if they are serious about supporting their Jewish employees.
For JewishERGs, this means continuing to look beyond the office door.
Read the Report