British Israelism

British Israelism (also called Anglo-Israelism) is a doctrine based on the hypothesis that people of Western European descent, particularly those in Great Britain, are the direct lineal descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The doctrine often includes the tenet that the British Royal Family is directly descended from the line of King David.

Though the central tenets of British Israelism have been refuted by modern genetic, linguistic, archaeological and philological evidence (see Research Findings below), the doctrine continues to have a significant number of adherents. The movement has never had a head organisation or a centralized structure. Various British Israelite organisations were set up across the British Commonwealth and in America from the 1870s, and many such organisations are active today.