I never imagined needing police protection to attend shul because of fellow Jews

Can you imagine what it’s like to attend the shul where you’ve been a regular worshipper for five decades and have to be accompanied into the building by a police protection officer because of personal threats? That was my awful experience last Shabbat, because of a campaign of vilification being waged against me by members of my community.

At the last meeting of Herts County Council, which I chair, there was a motion simply requesting the Pensions Committee to review its “Responsible Investment Policy”, which the council’s investment managers do as a matter of course. It made no reference to Israel or any other matter. The motion narrowly passed. It was an expedient way to relegate an unpleasant BDS petition, which had been received at the meeting, into obscurity. Herts County Council has issued an explicit statement that it does not endorse the BDS movement.

As chairman of the meeting, I didn’t cast a vote in order to remain impartial in accordance with convention. Like the speaker in Westminster, all chairs and mayors are apolitical during their tenure. My adherence to the longstanding convention of neutrality seems to have infuriated some of my fellow Jews, and I have been subjected to a torrent of abuse which, even after 50 years in public life, has shocked me to the core.

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I served as treasurer of the Board of Deputies for six years, and, as an active Zionist, I have a home in Israel which I frequently visit. I chair the British Friends of Neve Shalom, which helps raise funds to improve life in Israel for all its citizens. It’s unimaginably hurtful even to suggest I would seek to harm my beloved Israel.

My family and I have had physical threats. Even my teenage grandson has received unpleasant social media messages. A shadowy Jewish pressure group has sent me hundreds of AI-generated emails, all slightly different but all totally misrepresenting my role and blaming me for not voting at the meeting with no understanding of the way local government functions. There’s no room for nuance on social media, and the ignorant “keyboard warriors” are very happy to pillory me without understanding the position.

I have been criticised for not permitting certain councillors at the meeting to speak for longer than their allotted time, with no reference to the fact that I have an obligation to adhere to strict time limits refereed by a red light. There have been a plethora of lies and misrepresentations which some members of our community have blindly accepted and just followed the herd.

My critics suggest I should have broken with convention and cast a vote at the meeting. So, yes, I could have altered the vote, but I felt to have done so would have been very counter-productive and added fuel to the fire and enabled the petitioners to play the victim and left me and the council open to the charge that the votes had been manipulated by a Jew to no longer reflect the views of members.

My predecessor as chairman of Hertfordshire, from a different political party, has confirmed to me he would have dealt with the motion before last month’s meeting in the same way. I’m grateful to the many people who have contacted me with their support and understanding.

Several rabbis have publicly backed me, in particular, the former distinguished rabbi of Bushey Synagogue, who wrote to me from Israel telling me: “I was impressed by the way you dealt with the matter.”

I respect that verdict more than the views of some prejudiced Jews who weren’t prepared to understand the correct position.

As Jews in difficult times, we have to fight many battles, and it saddens me to see some members of our community wanting to pick a fight with one of their own.

Ever wondered why there’s a lack of decent folk prepared to enter into public life these days? My experience over the past few days provides the answer.

• Laurence Brass is the chairman of Hertfordshire County Council and a former Treasurer of the Board of Deputies.