The Chief Rabbi has discussed the threats facing Israel and UK government policy towards the war in Gaza with Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
According to a statement from his office, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis held a “wide-ranging” discussion with Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
“We discussed the imminent and vast threats facing Israel across the Middle East, UK Government decisions relating to the conflict, the urgent importance of freeing the hostages, achieving long term peace, and the deep impact of the war in this country,” Mirvis said on social media yesterday.
— Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis (@chiefrabbi)
August 14, 2024
Late last month, the JC reported that the Chief Rabbi had requested a meeting with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to raise his deep concerns over a perceived shift in the government’s policy on Israel.
At the time, The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council said they were “concerned” that the government made a “significant shift in policy away from Israel being a key UK ally”.
Since being elected to office on July 4, the new Labour government has restored funding to the controversial Palestinian UN agency Unrwa, dropped the previous government’s objection to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and is rumoured to be considering implementing an arms embargo against Israel.
Before Parliament rose for recess, the Foreign Secretary said that any change on the UK’s stance on exporting arms to Israel would only occur after “careful assessments of the law”.
Several defence experts, including former Labour defence minister John Spellar, have told the JC that an arms embargo against Israel could be damaging for the UK.
Despite speculation over restricting arms sales, the government has declared Israel as one of the countries it hopes to reach a free trade agreement (FTA) with as part of measures designed to boost economic growth.
Earlier this month, in response to Chief Rabbi Mirvis warned that British Jews were increasingly “trapped between the anvil of the hateful far right and the hammer of the conspiratorial extreme left”.
Responding to news that a group called Finchley Against Facism wanted to ban “Zionists” from a protest against the far-right, Mirvis said: “The speed with which some have expanded their attacks against fascists and racists, to include attacks on ‘Zionists’, betrays a complete ignorance of who Zionists are and indeed, who Jews are. The apparent ease with which some campaigners have attributed blame to ‘Zionist financiers abroad’, a lie which serves no purpose other than stirring antagonism and resentment, is deeply troubling.”
