He has at times struggle to exert influence even within his own party, but Ed Miliband can take heart he is the 20th most influential Jew in the world - but still behind 'Girls' creator Lena Durnham.
Miliband has often described himself as an atheist, telling the BBC in 2010 after he became leader “I don’t believe in God personally”.
His wife is not Jewish, but at their wedding, Miliband smashed a glass under his foot, a Jewish tradition, as a nod to his heritage.
Ed Miliband is the world's 20th most influential Jew - apparently
Both his parents came as refugees from the Holocaust to Britain, but his father, the Marxist historian Ralph Miliband, kept a strictly secular household.
The list, compiled by the Jerusalem Post, is topped by Yair Lapid.
Lapid is an Israeli TV star turned politician whose Yesh Atid party scooped a surprising number of votes in the last general election, placing the centrist Lapid as kingmaker in Israeli coalition negotiations. He is now finance minister.
Miliband is roundly beaten by The Daily Show presenter Jon Stewart (number 7), director Steven Spielberg 9number 13, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (number 16) in the Israeli paper's poll.
Ed Miliband manages to beat Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli
But he does see off such noble competition as supermodel and ex beau of Leonardo Di Caprio, Bar Refaeli, and BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith.
The post describes Milband thus:
"On his way to the top, Ed Miliband, 43, had to step on a few heads. It just so happened that one of them was his brother, David, whom he only narrowly edged out in a runoff for leader of the UK Labor Party in 2010.
"Now heading the second largest party in the House of Commons, as well as serving as leader of the opposition, Miliband is a likely candidate for prime minister in the next UK election, which will be held at the latest in 2015.
"When he was elected at age 40, Miliband was the youngest person ever to lead the Labor Party, and he is credited with maintaining party unity after the fractious primary. He has recently expressed plans to move the party in a different direction from his predecessors Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.
"In March, Miliband, the son and grandson of Holocaust survivors, declared himself a supporter of Israel, and stated he is opposed to boycotts of the Jewish state, though he has expressed criticism of settlements."
His brother David, incidentally, does not make the top 50.