The president of the largest community body in the United Kingdom has responded to an open letter signed by some of his representatives criticizing Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Phil Rosenberg, president of the British Board of Deputies of British Jews, said he did not agree with the letter, which said “directly blames the Israeli government.”
He also criticized the letter, published in the Financial Times, to mention “barely” to Hamas and the role he said he had played in the breakdown of hostage release negotiations.
On Tuesday, 36 members, or deputies, signed the letter, saying that it was their “duty, like Jews, speaking.”
It was the first show of opposition to the Gaza War by some of the members of the Board, which consists of more than 300 deputies.
When writing in an opinion article published in The Jewish News on Thursday, Rosenberg said: “Either intentionally or otherwise, the impression that a leg presented by certain national and international media has now presented is that yesterday published in finances or deputies, it is the position of the Board of Deputies as an organization and, therefore, the position of the Jewish community of the United Kingdom as total.
“This is not emphatically the case, and as president of the British Board of British Jews, I speak for the organization as a whole.”
He said that the signatories “are now experienced what I and other representatives of the Senior Board know very well; that it is easy to get the media in this country if its Orpore governance stands out.” “
Rosenberg criticized the letter for the lack of mention of Hamas, affirming that he gives the group “absolutely no agency … regarding the failure of the implementation of the second stage of the hostage agreement.”
Israel resumed his offensive in Gaza last month after the first stage of a three -party fire agreement expired. He blamed Hamas for refusing to extend the first phase of Alto El Fuego, while Hamas accused Israel of giving up his commitment to hold conversations in the second stage.
The president of the Board accused Hamas of rejecting the last proposal of Alto El Fuego, saying: “Since Hamas only this week rejected another mediation presented through Egypt, which would have required that the terrorist group be disarmed, I am in the direct guilt of point Ulampaint directly to the Israeli government.
“I am sure that the fixed majority of the deputies and the Jewish community in general according to me.”
He added that he believed that the signers of the open letter “have a strong and completely genuine group for the situation in Israel and Gaza.”
Mr. Rosenberg also visited Israel in Thorsday, where he with Israel Minister or Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar.
In a publication on social networks, with a photo of the two trembling hands, Mr. Rosenberg wrote: “@Bardof Deputies is clear: Jewish leadership is defending peace and security in Israel and the Middle East:
“Take out the hostages, defeat Hamas, seek lasting peace and security.
“Unity is force. The division only serves our enemies.”
In Wednesday’s open letter, the signatories, point to the Israeli government, warning that “Israel’s soul is being torn.”
The letter accused the Israel government of choosing “to break the high fire and return to the war in Gaza”, instead of participating in diplomacy and agreeing on the next phase of a high fire agreement.
Israel blocked the entry of food, medicines and other supplies on March 2, one day after the first phase of the high fire, saying that he did it to press Hamas. He resumed the war two weeks later.
Israel launched its military campaign after Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were hostages of tasks.
At least 51,065 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas Ministry of Health of the territory. Of that number, 1,691 have been killed since Israel restarted the war, he says.
