Ten percent — keep that small number in mind — of the deputies who belong to the Board of Deputies of British Jews have just published a letter in the Financial Times in which they condemn Israel for renewing the war in Gaza, and clutching their anguished foreheads, tell us that they fear that the Jewish state is not upholding “Jewish values.” I would have thought that after 3500 years of persecution and mass murder, it’s about time that the highest of all Jewish values ought to be self-preservation.
I thought it only fair to put up a piece reporting on their holier-than-thou screed that includes much of it verbatim. See if you find the moral preening in their letter as infuriating as I do. Here it is: “Over 10% of members of UK Jewish umbrella group sign letter urging end to Gaza war,” Times of Israel, April 16, 2025:
Thirty-six members of Britain’s main Jewish umbrella group sign a public letter criticizing Israel’s continuation of the war against Hamas in Gaza, accusing Jerusalem of implementing harmful policies to appease the government’s far-right flank.
The members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which includes a total of over 300 members, write that “our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out.”
In a letter published in the Financial Times, they argue that “the last 18 months of heartbreaking war have shown us that the most successful way of bringing the hostages home and creating a lasting peace is through diplomacy.”…
The letter blames Israel for the killing of hundreds of Palestinians since then, including 15 killed while in an ambulance convoy, in an incident in which the IDF has acknowledged acting in error.
“This most extremist of Israeli governments is openly encouraging violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, strangling the Palestinian economy and building more new settlements than ever,” they go on, also condemning a renewed judicial overhaul legislative push.
“Israel’s soul is being ripped out and we, members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, fear for the future of the Israel we love and have such close ties to,” the signatories say, adding that they stand with the hundreds of thousands who campaign for the hostages and an end to the war in weekly demonstrations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
“We stand against the war. We acknowledge and mourn the loss of Palestinian life. We yearn for the “day after” this conflict when reconciliation can start. As we mark the festival of freedom with so many hostages still in captivity, it is our duty, as Jews, to speak out.”…
Condemn all you want, you ten percent of British Jewish Deputies, the embattled Jewish state as it fights a seven-front war, from your well-upholstered comfort far from the Middle East. Your palpable want of sympathy for Israel, in its moment of maximum peril, will not be forgotten. Ninety percent of your fellow deputies disagree with you. Thank god.
Bexarkat says
Being able to live through the day, safely and soundly, is certainly a Jewish value. But too often we Jews concern ourselves with the welfare of others before ourselves.
JULIUS HOLLANDER says
Rabbi Moshe Sofer, aka Hatam Sofer, wrote on his glosses tot Orach Haim 39, that the Jewish people have the right to expel individuals and even groups from Jewish nation.
It is time that the Jewish nation excercize that right, and formally announce that Jews who support those who call for killing Jews are excluded from the Jewish nation. They cannot represent the Jewish nation, they can not attend Jewish services, they cannot be buried in Jewish cemeteries.
nadir ahmed says
hands off our Jewish friends. We will protect them from your anti semitism. and there is no one who “support those who call for killing Jews” including Hamas. you are creating an enemy which does not exist.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Sorta like you protected them 2 years ago on October 7th?
Winston 101 says
Thank you Julius Hollander and Rabbi Sofer.
Some people cannot resist elevating themselves above mere mortals. Their feelings are so fine!
They will virtue signal to the point of suicide for themselves and homicide for others.
Now, these fools have opened up an eight front for already embattled Israel. Perhaps Israel should consider eliminating this eighth front.
Cynthia says
Is it Jewish values to let Hamas regroup and rape and dismember civilians as they promised to do again and again?
This fringe is the leftist useful idiots.
OLD GUY says
There always seems to be that 10% of any group that wants to go the other way or are against the majority no matter what. And for some reason they always get the microphone, bullhorn and the media’s attention.
Siddi Nasrani says
Shame on the 10%, you need re-educating, wise up you clowns.
Read The Quran, then you will know your future.
From one Jew to another.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
There are now enough muslims in the UK that this 10% of Jews should feel perfectly comfortable converting to islam
jerry glenn says
Dhimmis
Magooey says
Letting the heights of the main stream media such as the BBC and CNN be under the influence of Islamic imperialistic tendencies could be a major error. The daily influence of such a propaganda machine is now in evidence. The media sometimes deals with facts, but very often inserts assumptions into its reporting that are at variance with the truth.