Cromwell‘s personal approval of Jews made it safer for Jews in England to be more open about being Jewish . Cromwell wanted to formally readmit Jews back into England, but there was a lot of pushback, especially from the English merchants who regarded Jews as competition. On 4 December 1695, Oliver addressed the Council personally on the subject of the Jews. There was many objections raised during the final session of the council on 18 December. Oliver did his best to interrupt the debate, saying matters should must be left in his own hands and the council. He wanted to prevent any compromise being reached, which might have ended with the suggestion that Jews should only be readmitted to decayed ports and town and should then pay custom duties on imports and exports.

“From now on, the status of the Jewish community in England entered a curious amorphous phase, in which it was generally believed that they were allowed back, and yet there was absolutely no legal backing to the belief, beyond the personal patronage of Cromwell” Cromwell, the Lord Protector Antonia Fraser

This mean there was no formal readmission by Cromwell. However, there were Jews already living in England before Cromwell had even taken power, so the Jews already residing could now feel more secure about being openly Jewish. For example, in March 1656 the Jews succeeded in their petition for a cemetery at Mile End. As the Spanish-Anglo war developed, the Jews passing off as catholic Spaniards feared that their property would be confiscated like other Spaniards. When the goods of Don Antonio Rables were about to be seized, he made plea that he was in fact Portuguese, but this failed. The alternative and more daring plea that he was Jewish was put forward.

“Robles made a personal appeal to Oliver, stressing his Jewish nationality, and referring to him hopefully as the “protector of afflicted ones”. And Robles, while admitting that he was uncircumcized and had attended Catholic chapels, succeeded in the object of his petition: in June the Council, spurred on by Cromwell, finally found that he was “a Jew born in Portugal”, and that the confiscation was therefore to be rescinded.” Cromwell, the Lord Protector Antonia Fraser

Jews already living in England could now be more open about being Jewish, but they were still not formally readmitted. Therefore, England for many Jews (like Menasseh ben Israel) was still not yet an official refuge for Jews so it didn’t make much of a difference in the number of Jews.

It wasn’t until Charles II came to power that Jews were formally and legally readmitted. There was a petition presented to Charles II to undo the civil rights granted to Jews by Cromwell.

“A counter petition was drawn up...which pointed out that that Royalist Jews had supported King Charles in Holland, and that he had pledged himself to toleration in the future.’ It was quite true: in September 1656 certain Jews at Amsterdam had applied to the King rejecting the petition of their brethren to Cromwell, in respect of which Charles had graciously acknowledged their support and suggested that any contributions they cared to make to his cause would be rewarded with patronage hereafter...Finally after anxious moments in August 1664 the Jews were at last legally readmitted.” Cromwell, the Lord Protector, Antonia Fraser

So Cromwell allowed Jews already living in England to be more open being Jewish, but he hadn’t yet formally readmitted jews back into England by the time of his death, so it didn’t make much of a difference to the number of Jews in England because England still wasn’t regarded as a place of refuge for many Jews until Charles II formally readmitted jews.

Cromwell, The Lord protector by Antonia Fraser.