Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to the Jewish community that he will never tolerate antisemitism in the United Kingdom and that Labour will always stand alongside UK Jewry.

The Labour leader, who had been scheduled to appear as the keynote speaker at Jewish Care’s annual dinner on Monday evening, made the promise via a video message because “someone called an election”, he quipped.

Starmer praised Jewish Care as an “exemplar” of social care in Britain, excelling at “caring for the entire person” and reflecting Jewish values of being “a community with a common identity, a shared history based on the cherished belief in the worth and value of every person”.

He said the charity was a “direct reflection of Jewish tradition of being there for others as a community, being together, finding joy in each other’s company and recognising what we can learn from those who’ve lived through history, sharing love and wisdom across the generations. It’s profoundly moving.”

Jewish Care's annual dinner, June 3, 2024 (Photo: Daniel Ben-David)

Starmer added: “I can’t let this occasion past without acknowledging that for all the light [Jewish Care] shines, we still stand in a shadow this evening. It would not be true to say antisemitism in this country is a new problem, a post-October 7 problem, but the conflict in the Middle East reverberates around communities here at home, making Jewish people feel less safe, making Jewish people feel less welcome, even sometimes suggesting you are less British.

“But just as I will never tolerate antisemitism in the Labour Party, I will never tolerate antisemitism in this country.”

He added that Labour “will stand alongside you today, and we will always stand by the Jewish community.”

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer addresses an audience via video message at Jewish Care's annual dinner, June 3, 2024

Sir Starmer’s wife, Victoria, was present on the evening in his stead, as well as Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting MP.

Streeting said he was “proud” to be representing the leader of the Labour Party on the evening, “not something I’d have been able to say five years ago,” he added.

“Five years ago, my party didn’t win the votes of many people in this room, and frankly we didn’t deserve to,” but Starmer, Streeting claimed, has in the years since then changed the party “inside out”.

Streeting said Jew-hatred in recent weeks and months is “wide-awake, visible, loud, and frightening,”

He said his education about contemporary antisemitism was gained while serving as president of the National Union of Students and talking with the Union of Jewish Students more than 20 years ago.

“I vowed then, as president, that Jewish students would not be left to fight this hatred alone,” Streeting said. “Thanks to the leadership that Keir has shown, I am able to stand here on this platform on behalf of the leader of the Labour Party to tell you that we will not leave you to fight antisemitism alone now.”

MP Wes Streeting gives the keynote speach at Jewish Care's annual dinner, June 3, 2024 (Photo: Blake Ezra Photography)

Highlighting the merits of Jewish Care, Streeting said that while serving as an MP for 14 years and as shadow secretary for health, there had been “plenty of times where I have walked into a residential care home and dreaded the day when I or someone I love might need one.

“It is a fundamental test of whether care is any good, asking ‘Would I want this for me or for my family?’, and I can honestly tell you that I have never felt that fear or dread with Jewish Care. Because you don’t just provide accommodation, you provide homes, you don’t just provide services, you build relationships, you are part of the family and there for the whole family.”

He said it was Jewish Care’s “enduring commitment to service to others” that has made it “an organisation so loved by so many Jewish families” in this country.

Wes Streeting meeting Manfred Goldberg BEM, Pam Bertschinger, volunteer for Jewish Care and Ivor Perl BEM, a tenant of Jewish Care’s Selig Court Retirement Living, June 3, 2024 (Photo: Blake Ezra Photography)

Almost 1,000 supporters and communal leaders attended Jewish Care’s dinner this week, including Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, and the new Board of Deputies of British Jews president, Phil Rosenberg.

The charity raised £5.3million on Monday night, which will go towards its newly raised annual fundraising target of £20million, which Jewish Care needs to support its services.

Manfred Goldberg BEM, one of approximately 300 Holocaust survivors Jewish Care looks after, has been a member of Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors’ Centre for decades. Speaking on stage earlier in the evening, he said he can “vouch” that the centre is a “lifesaver for a good number of us”.

The centre, in north-west London, he said, “is run by dedicated staff and volunteers with such loving care, that it is a priceless haven to us survivors”. He added that Jewish Care’s “incredible services mean everything to people like me.”

Manfred Goldberg BEM, member of Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors’ Centre, speaks at Jewish Care's annual dinner, June 3, 2024 (Photo: Blake Ezra Photography)

Life president of Jewish Care, Lord Michael Levy, said it has “never been more important” for the Jewish community to “put our differences aside and stand together as one community in unity, and Jewish Care sets that example. We care.”

Lord Levy spoke warmly about mental health charity JAMI entering the Jewish Care family earlier this year and thanked all those involved in overseeing the merger.

He also paid tribute to three key supporters of Jewish Care who have passed away in the last year; the “amazing” Lord Jacob Rothschild who was “a dear friend and true leader of our country”, Richard Harris, a “loyal and generous donor”, and the “truly wonderful” Ruth Lewis.

He used the opportunity to give particular thanks to Mike Freer, Conservative MP for Finchley and Golders Green, for being “an outstanding friend to our community and to Jewish Care”. Freer will be standing down at the forthcoming election.

Manfred Goldberg, member of Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors’ Centre with Jewish Care Life President Lord Levy and Pam Bertschinger, volunteer for Jewish Care for 15 years (Photo: Blake Ezra Photography)

Lord Levy welcomed the new Board of Deputies president, Phil Rosenberg, and thanked outgoing president Marie van der Zyl, both present on the night. He also thanked Jewish Care CEO Daniel Carmel-Brown, all senior Jewish Care staff and employee Angela Duran, who, he said, had dedicated 50 years of service to Jewish Care.

“Jewish Care continues to be the beacon that social care providers across the world look up to and respect,” he said.

Lord Levy speaks at Jewish Care's annual dinner, June 3, 2024 (Credit: Justin Grainge)

Guests watched a film showing the timeline of Jewish Care, tracing its roots  from when the Jewish Welfare Board merged with the Jewish Blind Society, forming Jewish Care. Since then, 11 more organisations have joined.

Incoming Jewish Care chair Marcus Sperber, outgoing chair Jonathan Zenios, Manfred Goldberg BEM, Pam Bertschinger, Lord Levy, Wes Streeting, Dame Gail Ronson, Ivor Perl BEM, Jean Lowi, and Steven Lewis (Photo: Blake Ezra Photography)

Chairman Jonathan Zenios led the appeal to guests. He said that with an ageing community, Jewish Care supporting people and their families with more complex cases at the end of life and in crisis, as well as those with mental illness and distress, the need for care “has never been greater”.

Funds raised on the evening would go towards ensuring Jewish Care “continues to be there for those who need us and remains a beacon of hope and compassion for generations to come,” Zenios said.

Ellisa Estrin, Jewish Care’s director of fundraising and marketing, said: “We are so grateful to all of our guests for supporting us at a time when the challenges to Jewish Care are, in many ways, greater than ever before. We simply could not do what we do without you, and it means a lot to know that you are there for Jewish Care, so we can be there for the community.

“Our thanks too, goes to The Rt Honourable Keir Starmer, Wes Streeting and Manfred Goldberg BEM. I’d also like to thank our lay leaders for making the evening such a success and enabling Jewish Care to keep on supporting thousands of fantastic people across London and the South East.”

Jewish Care’s 1,300 staff, plus 3,000 volunteers and multiple services touch the lives of some 12,000 people each week.