[4] Within six years it achieved as membership of 1,300 out of a UK Jewish population of over a quarter of a million and over that period proved instrumental, according to an obituary, in "shattering the illusion that all Jews unconditionally support the Israeli government.

"[4] It grew out of a reaction to the Al-Aqsa Intifada, which had rapidly led to the formation of a movement of British Jews opposed to Zionism who formed JPUK (Just Peace, United Kingdom) in October 2000.

David Hirsh quit the organisation in 2016 because some of its signatories questioned the good faith of those supporting allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party.

JJP has organised a number of petitions and open letters on political and human rights questions signed by distinguished British Jews from academia, the arts and other fields of activity.

A letter to the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary David Miliband of September 2007, urging Her Majesty's Government to speak at the United Nations against Israeli sanctions in Gaza, printed in The Times, was signed among many others by: