Plus, among the Brits (and I suspect all Anglophones), the liberal left was always constitutionally antisemitic. As far back as the mid-19th century enlightened liberals like Matthew Arnold defined their own views as 'Hellenic' sweetness and light which they opposed to the 'Hebraic' gloom of Protestantism. It's not such a long distance from disliking the Old Testament for its influcence on one's own culture to hating real Jews.