The Board of Deputies has insisted it has not fallen out with the government after its president was accused of “political grandstanding” over issues including its immigration policy.

Marie van der Zyl was alleged to have precipitated a breakdown in communication with senior ministers by publicly opposing the government’s Illegal Migration Bill.

Her stance was allegedly was not cleared with other members of the Board. She also damaged relations with the Israeli government by speaking out against Bezalel Smotrich, it was claimed.

JNV WHISTLEBLOWER KHALED HASSAN 13

Khaled Hassan (Photo: John Nguyen/JNVisuals)

The allegations were made by resigning deputy Khaled Hassan, who said the Board’s relationship with the UK government has been “completely broken”.

Among his claims was that van der Zyl’s high-profile visit to a migrant camp in Dunkirk in April — during which she was photographed handing out food to asylum seekers — had not been approved by a majority of deputies.

Other deputies also criticised the president for her failure to consult them.

“She’s a lawyer, she’s experienced in speaking her own mind,” Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue representative Vicki Harris said. “She doesn’t really have a grasp of political sensitivities.”

But in a letter published by the JC this week, van der Zyl denied that opposition to the Illegal Migration Bill had led to a rift with the Home Secretary.

She wrote: “We have had a number of meetings with senior government representatives since then, and will continue to do so. We were also consulted by the government on its Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill prior to publication.

“The paper appeared to cite, as proof of a supposed ‘breakdown’ of the relationship with the Home Office, that ‘When the home secretary chaired the first meeting of the Jewish Community Crime, Policing and Security Taskforce last month, the Board was not represented.’

“The only organisation from our community present at that taskforce meeting was the CST.”

After quitting, Hassan, a former YouTube employee turned whistleblower who highlighted antisemitic content on the site, claimed a statement made by the Board telling far-right Israeli politician Bezalel Smotrich to “get back on the plane” when he visited the UK had damaged relations with the Jewish state.

F230228YS21

Israeli minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich (Photo: Flash 90)

He asked: “Is it in the Board’s interest to make a statement that we are basically boycotting the current [UK] government and the government of Israel?”

In response, van der Zyl wrote: “The allegation by a disgruntled former deputy, repeated by the paper, that the Board is ‘basically boycotting’ the Israeli government, again has no basis in fact.

“I have personally met high-profile Israeli leaders, including President Isaac Herzog, on at least three occasions in recent months. Other key Board of Deputies representatives have similarly met a number of senior Israeli government ministers for substantive meetings.”

She said Netanyahu came to the UK on a “lightning visit” in March and did not meet any Jewish communal organisations. “To link this to our previous condemnation of Betzalel Smotrich is without foundation,” she said.

Van der Zyl also rejected suggestions the Board had acted undemocratically by rejecting a proposal Hassan put forward that any statements “on matters of national, or international, political significance” should be voted on by the full Board.

She said: “I had passed the motion to our executive committee — itself democratically elected by Deputies — and after it scrutinised [it] carefully it was decided [it] was completely unworkable in its current form.”

Hassan responded: “Rather than suggest that I raised merely represent a ‘disgruntled’ voice, the Board should recognise that my concerns are echoed by many other deputies.”