Hundreds sign letter calling on Board to denounce no Palestinian state stance
Simon Schama among those backing open letter calling for British Jewry's support for a two-state solution to be expressed
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
An open letter to the Board of Deputies urging the communal organisation to be more vociferous in calling for a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians has been signed by hundreds of British Jews, including rabbis and historians.
The campaign was launched in the aftermath of a vote in Israel’s Knesset last week in which a motion put forward by a right-wing political coalition firmly opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state passed by a significant majority.
In a debate leading up to the vote, far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich was among those to tell Israeli MKs “there is no such thing as a Palestinian state” while minister of communications Shlomo Karhi referenced a biblical story in which “God told Moses to destroy Sihon and his entire nation.”
But the open letter, launched by the pro-peace advocacy group Yaachad, points out that polls taken in Israel suggest the public believe the state should enter into dialogue with the wider Arab world in which a creation of a Palestinian state would be on the table.
The letter, signed by over 600 members of the UK community including Sir Simon Schama, Jewish Women’s Aid’s honorary president Judith Usiskin MBE, Anthony Metzer KC, and Rabbi David Mason, now calls on the Board to “make it clear as the representative voice of the British Jewish community that the overwhelming majority of Jews in the UK stand in opposition to the Knesset vote.”
It calls for the Board to state its “clear rejection of the vote” and commit to a “political resolution to the conflict.”
A Yachad spokesperson said: “Like many in Israel and the diaspora, we were appalled by the vote in the Knesset opposing Palestinian statehood, which is tantamount to opposing a two state solution.
“Our community has a broad range of opinions but we know that the vast majority of British Jews support a two-state solution. We want our communal representatives to stand firmly and bravely behind the community’s stance, and ensure it’s loud and clear to Israeli government representatives that the diaspora does not stand with them.”
The Board’s policy remains support of a two state solution with a secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state.
But the communal organisation has been hesitant to explicitly criticise a Netanyahu government that has little commitment to two-states.
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