Over 10% of members of UK’s main Jewish umbrella group sign letter urging end to Gaza war
36 members of Board of Deputies say hostage-ceasefire deal was abandoned for Netanyahu’s political survival, warn ‘Israel’s soul is being ripped out’
Thirty-six members of Britain’s main Jewish umbrella on Wednesday criticized Israel’s continuation of the war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza, and accusing Jerusalem of implementing harmful policies to appease the government’s far-right flank.
The members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which includes a total of over 300 members, wrote that “our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out.”
In a letter published in the Financial Times, they argued that “the last 18 months of heartbreaking war have shown us that the most successful way of bringing the hostages home and creating a lasting peace is through diplomacy.”
They claimed the ceasefire deal signed in January had sufficient international guarantees to ensure Israel’s future security, and branded the war’s renewal last month as the so-called “‘Itamar offensive,’ so called as it was Itamar Ben Gvir’s condition for returning to the coalition, thus enabling the Israeli government’s budget to be passed within the tight deadline needed to avoid an election.”
The letter blamed Israel for the killing of hundreds of Palestinians since then, including 15 killed while in an ambulance convoy, in an incident in which the IDF has acknowledged acting in error.
“This most extremist of Israeli governments is openly encouraging violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, strangling the Palestinian economy and building more new settlements than ever,” they went on, also condemning a renewed judicial overhaul legislative push.
????Today @FT published a letter signed by dozens of members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, speaking out against Israel's far-right gov, the abandonment of hostages & calling for an end to the war. We're proud that our representatives signed.https://t.co/qqyIOIvbHw pic.twitter.com/rT0H5A132A
— Yachad UK (@YachadUK) April 16, 2025
“Israel’s soul is being ripped out and we, members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, fear for the future of the Israel we love and have such close ties to,” the signatories said, adding that they stand with the hundreds of thousands who campaign for the hostages and an end to the war in weekly demonstrations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
“We stand against the war. We acknowledge and mourn the loss of Palestinian life. We yearn for the ‘day after’ this conflict when reconciliation can start. As we mark the festival of freedom with so many hostages still in captivity, it is our duty, as Jews, to speak out.”
The letter underscored a fissure within the Board of Deputies on its stance on the war in Gaza. After the ceasefire deal ended, the signatories appealed to the board to put out a statement condemning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision, but they refused, according to the Financial Times.
One signatory, Baron Frankal, told the Financial Times that others within the group shared the letter’s sentiment, but “would not be willing to say so publicly.”
Board of Deputies: Letter shows our internal diversity
In a statement responding to the letter, the Board of Deputies noted that the organization “represents the diverse constituencies of the UK Jewish community” and acknowledged “that around 10% of our Deputies signed this letter and that potentially others would associate themselves with it.”
It added: “Others would no doubt put more emphasis on the fundamental responsibility of Hamas for this ghastly situation and the need to ensure that they are prevented from ever repeating the heinous crimes of 7 October.”
“This diversity is not unlike the politics of Israel itself, whose rambunctious democratic culture sees a fierce exchange of views about these excruciating life and death issues,” the Board’s statement noted.
“Within this diversity, however, there is much unity,” it went on. “The UK Jewish community as a whole wants to see the immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas. We want to see Hamas, Hezbollah and the other terrorist proxies of Iran prevented from ever being able to repeat 7 October.”
The statement continued: “We want to see aid flowing into Gaza so that its civilian population can rebuild their lives. And we want to see definitive progress towards lasting peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians, and the wider Middle East.”
In recent days, public appeals within Israel have also called on the government to secure the release of the hostages, even at the cost of ending the war.
The open letters have come from dozens of active and retired reservists from the Israeli Navy’s elite Shayetet 13 commando unit, some 250 reservists from the IDF’s elite 8200 signals intelligence unit, graduates of the military’s prestigious Talpiot program, some 250 ex-Mossad members, and a group of close to 1,000 veterans of the Israeli Air Force.
A letter was also issued by some 200 relatives of hostages and 23 freed hostages, alongside appeals from authors, educators, artists, cultural figures, doctors, and ex-diplomats.
JTA contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.