The Board of Deputies is to be asked to ban contact with far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.

A motion backed by a group of deputies has been submitted for debate at the representative body.

It says they are “gravely concerned that the new Israeli government includes individuals whose stated views and actions are in contrast to the tolerant and inclusive values of our community.

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Israel's minister of national security Itamar Ben Gvir (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

“Hence, the Board condemns and commits not to host politicians who have demonstrated hostility on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, or Jewish denomination, such as Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Avi Maoz.”

Maoz, of the homophobic Noam party, has recently stepped down from the government.
The motion goes on to say: “The Board remains committed to supporting those who continue, in line with Israel’s Declaration of Independence, to ‘foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants’.”

Amos Schonfield, deputy for Masorti Judaism, who proposed the motion — which is seconded by Harriet Goldenberg of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue — said: “We have to use our influence to show where we stand.”

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Amos Shonfield (Photo: Facebook)

The motion was originally submitted to the Board’s international division, which declined to recommend it being put to a full plenary meeting.

However, under the Board’s procedures, if 20 deputies can be found to sponsor it, it can then go forward for debate.

Mr Schonfield said: “We have more than enough deputies to have it raised at the upcoming plenary at the end of the month.”
It could be on the agenda for the next meeting on Sunday week, but the Board declined to comment this week on whether that would happen.

The Board ran into controversy last year when it issued a tweet in blunt, colloquial Hebrew telling Smotrich, who had been visiting the UK as a backbench MK, to “get back on a plane”.

The tweet was criticised by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, but the Board received backing from then-diaspora affairs minister Nachman Shai.