Three dozen members of the largest body representing British Jews are facing disciplinary action after signing an open letter criticising Israel over the war in Gaza.
Amid signs of deepening divisions among British Jews over the 18-month-old war, the Board of Deputies announced this week that all 36 signatories to the letter were now “subject to a complaints procedure” after “multiple complaints”.
One, Harriett Goldenberg, was suspended as vice-chair of the board’s international division pending the investigation. She was also asked to step back from her role on the executive until the conclusion of the investigation, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
A statement from the board said the letter was “not representative” of its policy on Israel. A special meeting of its executive committee was convened on Tuesday to “discuss the ramifications and consequences of this act”.
The committee voted unanimously to open a complaints procedure, which is expected to take at least four weeks, the board said.
The signatories to the letter, which was published by the Financial Times, said they could no longer “turn a blind eye or remain silent” over the war in Gaza. “Israel’s soul is being ripped out”, they said.
They added: “The inclination to avert our eyes is strong, as what is happening is unbearable, but our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out.”
Since the start of the war, after the attacks by Hamas against Israelis on 7 October 2023, statements by the Board of Deputies have been broadly supportive of the Israeli government.
After the executive committee meeting this week, Phil Rosenberg, the board’s president, said: “We take alleged breaches of the code of conduct very seriously … The Board of Deputies is clear: only our democratically elected honorary officers and authorised staff speak on behalf of the organisation.”
Last week, Michael Wegier, the board’s chief executive, said a group of deputies had “aired their views in a national publication, specifically in their capacity as deputies, leading them to an incorrect assumption by a significant number of people in our community and beyond that this group is putting forward the board’s official position, which it is not.”
In an article in the Jewish Chronicle, he added: “Taking the legitimate and often painful debate within our community to the letters pages of national newspapers, and sowing confusion about the position of the community as a whole, is a shortsighted and dangerous precedent.”
Most of the letter’s signatories belong to Reform, Liberal or Masorti communities. Many of the complaints reportedly came from members of the United Synagogue, the largest communal denomination in the UK.
Goldenberg has been approached for comment.
