Last week, 36 of the over 300 members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews wrote an open letter criticising Israel’s crimes in Gaza. And the right-wing group has now turned its longstanding pro-Israel witch hunt against its own deputies as a result.
Board of Deputies punishes criticism of Israel
The letter’s signatories said they “cannot turn a blind eye or remain silent” over the “loss of life and livelihoods” in the occupied Palestinian territory. They added that “Israel’s soul is being ripped out and we… fear for the future of the Israel we love and have such close ties to”. The government of the apartheid state, they insisted, had opted to “break the ceasefire” rather than seeking a lasting peace deal. The BBC called the intervention “the first show of opposition to the Gaza war by some members of the board”.
A statement from the Board of Deputies’ Executive on 22 April revealed the consequences these signatories would now face. It said that, after an “extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee”, it could confirm that:
all 36 signatories of the letter to the Financial Times are now subject to a complaints procedure in accordance with Appendix G to the Board of Deputies’ Constitution.
It added:
All members of the Executive eligible to vote, unanimously approved a motion temporarily suspending the Vice Chair of the International Division from that role and the Executive while they remain subject to the complaints procedure, having signed the Financial Times letter and given further media interviews on it.
And it said “the complaints procedure is likely to take at least four weeks”.
A statement from the Board of Deputies following an Executive Meeting this morning, relating to the publication of a letter signed by 36 out of our 300+ Deputies: pic.twitter.com/VOrSVa0KQI
— Board of Deputies of British Jews (@BoardofDeputies) April 22, 2025
Tearing itself apart… much like Israel?
The Board of Deputies played a key role in smearing former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Then, in the 2020 Labour Party leadership race, the Board of Deputies pushed candidates to back a highly controversial list of demands. Many Jewish left-wingers firmly opposed this divisive list – which, as a Jewish Canary editor at the time wrote, essentially asked Labour to “ignore socialist Jews” and “Jews who don’t support the actions of the Israeli state”.
One might have hoped the Board of Deputies would change its gushingly pro-Israel tune slightly during a genocide. But it has stuck to its guns and continued to attack critics of Israel’s war crimes.
Is it now going to tear its own organisation apart to shill for Israeli war criminals?
Featured image via the Canary
