An umbrella organization for British Jewry suspended one of its leaders and is disciplining dozens of members for signing an open letter condemning the war in Gaza.
On Tuesday, the Board of Deputies of British Jews announced that the vice chair of its international division, Harriett Goldenberg, would be suspended during the disciplinary review. The Jewish News, a British publication, also reported that Nat Kunin, the executive committee’s representative for members under age 35, has been asked to “step back” from his role.
Goldenberg and Kunin were among 36 members of the Board of Deputies to sign a letter in the Financial Times last week opposing Israel’s decision to end its ceasefire with Hamas and return to fighting in Gaza. The letter called the renewed fighting a “brutal war,” criticized Israel’s military conduct and warned that “extremism” in its government poses a threat to democracy.
Tuesday’s announcement from the Board of Deputies said the members, who comprise roughly 10% of the board’s deputies, would be “subject to a complaints procedure” due to last about four weeks. The deputies represent Jewish communities and organizations across the country.
“We take alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct very seriously. I am grateful to the Constitution Committee for the speed with which they have reviewed the initial complaints, and it is right that they are now given the time and space to review the cases with due process and impartiality,” said Board of Deputies President Phil Rosenberg in a statement. “The Board of Deputies is clear: only our democratically-elected Honorary Officers and authorised staff speak on behalf of the organisation.”
Rosenberg lambasted the group’s letter in an op-ed in Jewish News last Thursday, writing that the letter’s criticisms were not emblematic of the policy of the Board of Deputies and that the letter has unfairly skewed public perception of the board.
“I am simply unable to agree with the viewpoint aired in the FT letter which lays blame squarely on the Israeli Government. I am confident that the vast majority of Deputies and the Jewish community as a whole agree with me,” wrote Rosenberg.
Following the letter’s publication, 90 members of the United Synagogue, the U.K.’s largest Orthodox body, questioned Rosenberg in a “fiery” online meeting and called for disciplinary action against the signatories, according to The Jewish Chronicle.
“The fallout was not the point, though that’s inevitable. We’re speaking out of love and concern for Israel. This is not anti-Zionist. The prime objective is the release of the hostages. We’re losing sight of that,” Goldenberg told The Jewish Chronicle.
Goldenberg joined the Board of Deputies’ executive in October, one of five women elected in order to achieve what the group called a “gender-balanced Executive Committee for the first time in the organisation’s 264-year history.” She is a psychotherapist and represents the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in London.
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