WI: British-Israelism mainstream by 1900

What if the pseudo-scientifc notion that the Brits (English, Scots, Welsh, Irish) as ethnic groups are descendents of the ancient Israelites - became mainstream and culturally ubiquitous by 1900? (i.e. the vast majority of British people believed in an Israelite ancestry)

What effect (if any) would this have had on politics, diplomacy, economics, etc, of the day?
 
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For one, we might see massive British conversions to Judaism in this TL.

Not necessarily.
As per the linked source - most people that ascribed to this historicism also championed the idea that not all Israelites were Jews, necessarily.
So it was possible to be Christian and still be one of the "Lost Tribes", so to speak.
 
The world would consign the British people to the madhouse.

The best chance for British Israelism would be if a segment of the British public held to it, and managed to have some electoral impact on British mideast policy, especially in the event of the UK holding onto Palestine post-WW2. Sort of analogous to the crazy-cousin-in-the-attic role played by American evangelical Christians on their country's mideast policy.
 
For one, we might see massive British conversions to Judaism in this TL.

Well, maybe not a Judaism that is recognized by most Jews, but you might see some British Israelites embracing Jewish traditions and customs more openly, sort of like you have the Messianic Jewish section of Christian Zionism today.
 
The world would consign the British people to the madhouse.

The best chance for British Israelism would be if a segment of the British public held to it, and managed to have some electoral impact on British mideast policy, especially in the event of the UK holding onto Palestine post-WW2. Sort of analogous to the crazy-cousin-in-the-attic role played by American evangelical Christians on their country's mideast policy.

I guess the question then would be which political party would feel the most comfortable adopting this platform for the sake of the votes?
British-Israelism-ists tended to also be staunch imperialists so I'd argue the Tory Party
 
FWIW, I believe the Armstrongites, who are basically British Israel under a different name, purport to follow Jewish law as laid out in the Old Testament, in regards to holidays and diet.
 
I guess the question then would be which political party would feel the most comfortable adopting this platform for the sake of the votes?
British-Israelism-ists tended to also be staunch imperialists so I'd argue the Tory Party

Oh yeah. Assuming that they keep the eschatological focus on the original Holy Land, they would definitely gravitate to whichever parties support imperialism.
 
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