BBC’s kibbutz show won’t be a Jewish ‘Big Brother’

THE BBC is planning to broadcast a documentary in which a group of British Jews will be taken to Israel to explore their cultural identity and faith.

A source said it is not intended to be “a Jewish Big Brother”, but a serious discussion among a representative group of members of the UK community, with a range of backgrounds and beliefs, between the ages of 18 and 70.

A BBC spokesman confirmed the corporation is developing the programme which “aims to explore what it means to be British and Jewish”.

He said: “The contributors, who will come from a broad cross-section of the population and the faith, will travel to Israel to discover more about their cultural identity and discuss the most significant issues in modern Judaism. We will announce further details in due course.”

In recent weeks requests for applicants have appeared on the Restaurant Club and Jewish Britain — popular Facebook pages within the community.

The message on the Restaurant Club Facebook page read: “We have been approached by a TV company looking for 10

UK Jews with a wide range of Jewish views and experiences who are happy to discuss what being Jewish means to them.

“You will be taken to Israel to live on a kibbutz for two two weeks where you will be filmed for a media project.”

A spokesman for the Board of Deputies confirmed a TV production company had asked them to “spread the word”.

Production company Lion TV has reportedly been inundated with applications for the as-yet unnamed show, which is due to be broadcast next year.

It is unclear whether it will be scheduled to coincide with the 70th anniversary in May of the founding of the state of Israel.

The idea for the programme may have been inspired by the successful series Muslims Like Us, which was shown on BBC2 in 2016 and featured 10 British Muslims with contrasting views discussing their politics and religion.

Programme will be a serious discussion of identity’