Board of Deputies member resigns after facing potential second suspension over a letter
Philip Goldenberg was a signatory to an FT letter in early 2025 which led to a suspension - his name and Board position were also given in a Yachad letter this July calling for a settlement ban
A member of the Board of Deputies has resigned from the organisation after being faced with a potential second suspension in the space of 18 months, after signing a letter calling for a ban on Israeli settlement trade.
Philip Goldenberg, who previously represented North West Surrey Reform Synagogue, was one of five Deputies suspended in 2025, after the Financial Times published a letter from 36 members of the organisation which was scathing about Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
The former Liberal Democrat councillor was set to retire from his position at the end of the Board’s current triennium, which finishes next May. However, in the wake of being informed by the Board that he would potentially be subject to a further suspension, unless he apologised for signing a letter which supported a ban on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank in which the words “Board of Deputies” featured next to his name.
The July letter, drafted by Yachad, was signed by more than 1,000 members of the Jewish community. It said that “too often, public debate about Israel and Palestine reduces diverse communities to a single political position. As British Jews and British Israelis, we know this is neither accurate nor fair.”
It went on to “urge” the government to “take the next step by introducing, without delay, a ban on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
The position the letter put forward was in direct opposition to the official viewpoint of the Board of Deputies as an organisation. While Yachad is itself one of the many member organisations of the Board, the letter did not mention its affiliation in any way. Of the more than 1,000 signatories, the only one to have specifically put “Board of Deputies” next to their name was Mr Goldenberg.
As reported by the Jewish Chronicle, Goldenberg wrote to the Board’s Chief Executive, Michael Wegier, saying that “the heinous crime in relation to which bell, book and candle have now been applied to me was to co-sign a public letter from Yachad to the government, and add to my signature a statement that I was a member of the Board of Deputies.
“The idea that this statement of fact constituted a representation that I was speaking on behalf of the Board as a whole is so ridiculous that it would be laughed out of court in any other organisation.”
A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies said: “The Board recognises the diversity of opinion in our community and believes in providing a platform for different opinions on the key issues facing our community. However, we draw the line at misrepresentation of the views of individual Deputies as the views of our organisation as a whole.
“Following the findings of an independent disciplinary panel, we have therefore been left with no choice but to apply a sanction again in this case. That the Deputy has chosen to resign instead is a matter for them. We will work with their constituency to ensure its voice remains properly represented on the Board of Deputies.”