UK Jewish body suspends deputies over letter criticising Israeli offensive in Gaza

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The largest Jewish representative in the United Kingdom suspended five of its deputies for two years and issued a warning to more than twenty others after they signed an open speech criticizing the Israeli government’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

The decision of the British Jewish parliament comes after an investigation into 36 deputies signed a message published in the Financial Times in April, which was strongly criticizing the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This was the first public presentation of the opposition from the members of the Board of Directors to the destroyed Israeli war for a period of 22 months against Hamas and the attacks against the Palestinians by the Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The following storm about the message, which warned that “the spirit of Israel has exploded”, and revealed an increasing rift within the body and Jewish society in the United Kingdom due to the actions of the Netanyahu government.

“Many Jews in the UK have unfortunately agreed to our pioneering message.”

She said, “We were overwhelmed by those who said that we are like us and that we were their voice. It is tragic that a voice is needed.” “There is a lot in our society in pain and fear, who feel as we do.”

The message was written after Israel broke a fragile ceasefire deal in March to end the war in Gaza and secure the launch of the Israeli hostages, and its attack intensified with the imposition of a complete siege on the bar.

Representatives wrote that they were unable to “turn on the eye or silence in this renewed loss in life and livelihoods.” They warned violence against the Palestinians in the West Bank, and warned that “this extremism targets Israeli democracy.”

In his statement, the Board of Directors, which includes about 300 deputies, said that the signers of the letter have violated the Code of the Commission, adding that “the presentation and promotion of the message” created “the misleading impression that this was an official document for the council as a whole.”

The Board of Directors said: “In light of the seriousness of these violations and in line with the code, the executive authority agreed to suspend these five deputies from the activities of the Council for a period of two years and remove them when necessary from the elected positions they hold within the board of directors.”

“In three of these five cases, deputies were given the opportunity to reduce the comment to six months by apologizing to the affected parties.”

She said that 31 deputies signed the message “but they did nothing more to promote.

The British Jewish community has largely gathered around Israel since the outbreak of the war in Gaza after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, when the militants killed 1,200 people and seized 250 hostages, according to the Israeli authorities.

However, a large minority did not. The message pushes the increasing open concerns among some members of the Board of Directors about the fate of the remaining hostages, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, the Israeli attacks in the West Bank and Netanyahu’s decision to revive the controversial judicial reforms.

Netanyahu insists that he is following the war to destroy Hamas and pressure the armed group to launch more hostages.

After a ceasefire in the United States in March, he blamed Hamas for refusing to agree to new firefighting proposals.

But in their message, MPs accused Netanyahu of breaking the ceasefire and their failure to determine the rulers of the hostages.

The Israeli attack in Gaza has killed more than 56,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials, reduced a lot of tape to barren land and fears of famine and extensive diseases.

“The opinions that we have expressed were those from many British and Israeli Jews,” said Robert Stone, a commentator.

He added: “The brutal Israeli government betrays the ancient principles of Judaism, not the least of which is now the research in proverbs 25:21,” If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; If it is thirsty, give it water to drink. “