The Board of Deputies is a democratic organisation. It is a broad tent, containing 300 representatives from all denominations of Judaism and spanning a wide range of political opinion. Deputies regularly speak out in public on a range of issues and often take positions which are at odds with the official policy of the Board itself.
This is not surprising. We all know that, where there are two Jews, there are three opinions. And the world’s only Jewish state is the most rambunctious of democracies. Ordinarily, we celebrate this diversity of opinion.
This case is different. Whether intentionally or otherwise, the impression that has now been put forward by certain national and international news outlets is that yesterday’s letter published in the Financial Times, signed by approximately ten percent of Deputies, is the position of the Board of Deputies as an organisation, and therefore the position of the UK Jewish community as a whole. This is emphatically not the case, and as president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, I speak for the organisation as a whole.
I know many of the signatories well and do not doubt for a moment the deep and fierce love of Israel among the signatories and their devotion to its wellbeing. As the war has gone on, I have observed, however – both in Israel and outside it – what seems to me to be a deeply regrettable loss of perspective, mirrored again in this letter.
Gideon Moshe Sa’ar, Israel’s Foreign Minister, left with Phil Rosenberg, President, Board of Deputies of British Jews, right.
Hamas – its initiation of this hideous conflict and its determination to continue it – is barely mentioned, and when it is, this is only insofar as to blame the Israeli government for its existence and actions. In this telling, absolutely no agency is given to Hamas regarding the failure of the implementation of the second stage of the hostage deal.
We yearn for the return of the remaining hostages, whose absence is more acute than ever now, during the Festival of Freedom. Yet given that Hamas just this week rejected yet another mediation put forward via Egypt, which would have required the terrorist group to disarm, I am simply unable to agree with the viewpoint aired in the FT letter which lays blame squarely on the Israeli Government. I am confident that the vast majority of Deputies and the Jewish community as a whole agree with me.
Again, I believe that the signatories to this letter have a strong and completely genuine concern for the situation in Israel and Gaza. But they are now experiencing what I and other senior Board representatives know all too well; that it is remarkably easy to get the media to listen to you in this country if you highlight your Jewish identity while vocally criticising Israel or its government.
Thinking about it objectively, for a letter signed by three dozen people to make headlines in an assortment of national newspapers, while TV and Radio producers fight among themselves to get signatories to appear on their shows, makes very little sense.
I am simply unable to agree with the viewpoint aired in the FT letter which lays blame squarely on the Israeli Government. I am confident that the vast majority of Deputies and the Jewish community as a whole agree with me
The reason for it is simple; it feeds into an underlying and dangerous narrative about ‘good Jews’ and ‘bad Jews’. This was aptly summed up yesterday in a Twitter post by Jeremy Corbyn’s former shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, where he stated: “There’ll be some who will criticise this letter from some members of the Board of Deputies, saying why only 1 in 8 have signed it & why so late. Yet every signatory should be welcomed into that courageous band of Jewish people who have stood up for peace & an end to the killing.”
I don’t think a single one of our 300-plus Deputies opposes “peace and an end to the killing”. But that does not stop the implied slur.
Phil, centre, at a Bring Hostages Home event in central London, to demand the immediate release of Israeli hostages from Gaza.
I urge us all to remember that unity is strength. Division serves only our enemies. It is OK to disagree le-shem shamayim – for the sake of heaven. It is even better to agree for the sake of heaven. And on so much, there is unity. We all want to see the hostages out. We all want to see Hamas defeated. We all want to see definitive progress towards lasting peace and security for Israel and the Middle East.
The Hamas regime is crumbling. Yesterday, renewed mass protests took place in Gaza against Hamas, as they have repeatedly over the last month, despite the huge risks to Palestinians in protesting the despotic Hamas regime. We pray for its downfall, the return of every hostage, and an end to the war which will allow Israelis and Gazans to rebuild their shattered lives.
In this I believe the Financial Times needs to learn to count: 90% of Deputies is a bigger number than the 10% who signed this letter.
For our part, the Board of Deputies, will continue to be unstinting in our advocacy for the majority of our community and our shared values.
Phil Rosenberg is president of the Board of Deputies
