‘More damage being done to Zionism by Netanyahu than by Hamas’ Deputy tells BBC
Philip Goldenberg was one of 36 Board members to sign a letter opposing Israel's continued war - but the representative body's leadership said 'some would put more responsibility on Hamas' for the situation
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
More damage is being done to Zionism by Benjamin Netanyahu “than Hamas could ever achieve”, one of the signatories of a letter signed by Board of Deputies members opposing continued war in Gaza has claimed.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme, deputy Philp Goldenberg said he had agreed to become one of 36 signatories of a letter published by the FT because “progressive societies within Israel civic society need to hear, in my view, a voice from the diaspora supporting them.”
Goldenberg, the N W Surrey Synagogue deputy, admitted there were those within the Board “who think that we should not have done this” but he said there was a need to show that “a whole range of views” existed in the community in relation to the conflict in Gaza.
World At One presenter Sarah Montague noted that the letter, published in the FT on Wednesday, is “the first public show of opposition to what Israel is doing from the Board”, although she added there were over 300 Deputies in total.
A statement from Board chief executive Michael Weiger, which was also read out, suggested others would put more responsibility on Hamas for the “ghastly situation” in Gaza, and that while there were diverse responses to the conflict in the community, there was also “unity.”
But explaining his own decision to support the letter, Goldenberg told the BBC: “I’m involved in interfaith work. I say to Muslim friends, ‘We can’t have a dialogue unless you condemn what Hamas did on the 7 October.
“And they come back and say, ‘Why haven’t British Jews condemned the present Israeli government?’
“And I think it’s an absolutely fair question. Obviously there will be people who share our views but don’t for their own personal reasons, perfectly fairly, want to put their heads above the parapet.”
Asked for his response to the horrendous scenes in Gaza, including the “number of children who have been killed or harmed” Goldenberg said: “It’s awful and it’s a total breach of Jewish ethical values.”
He added: “Israel was conceived by Herzl, designed by Weizmann, as a liberal, pluralist democracy to be a light unto other nations. Herzl and Weizmann must be turning in their graves at this dreadful Israeli government.
“I worry about the future State of Israel. I think more damage is being done to the Zionist project by Netanyahu than Hamas could ever achieve.”
Goldenberg told the BBC the Gaza war could have come to an end, and the hostages could have been released, but he said: “Netanyahu deliberately revived it, to lure back into his government some bigoted, extreme racists to keep his majority so he doesn’t lose office. It’s as simple and crude as that.”
He said the Israeli government has “absolutely adopted the Trump playbook” which was “attack the judiciary, fire the Attorney General, fire the head of the Security Service, demonise anybody who disagrees with them.”
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