Kemi Badenoch has held her first meeting with the main communal organisations since becoming Conservative Party leader.
The Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust discussed key challenges facing the community with her – including a range of means to drive back hatred and promote cohesion.
Turning to Israel, the Jewish leaders thanked Kemi Badenoch and the Conservative Party for their staunch friendship to the Jewish state, and Mrs Badenoch’s personal advocacy for hostages and the victims of sexual violence in the atrocities of 7 October 2023.
Following the meeting, Board of Deputies President Phil Rosenberg, Jewish Leadership Council CEO Claudia Mendoza and Community Security Trust CEO Mark Gardner said: “In our first meeting with Kemi Badenoch as Conservative leader, we thanked her for her allyship to the Jewish community and to Israel over many years.
We look forward to working with Kemi Badenoch towards a better, safer and more cohesive United Kingdom”.
Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch said:“I enjoyed meeting representatives of the Jewish community from the Board of Deputies, Community Security Trust, and the Jewish Leadership Council. I reaffirmed my party’s commitment to tackling antisemitism, promoting community cohesion in the UK, and holding the government to account on these critical issues.”
Meanwhile, Mandy Damari, the mother of freed hostage Emily, has written to the Tory leader thanking her for the “strong and outspoken support” for the campaign to bring her daughter home.
She said Badenoch’s “knowledge and empathy set you apart” and she also thanked the Conservative Friends of Israel organisation for their support.
