NJA chief Mond: ‘Social justice – what has that got to do with Judaism?’
National Jewish Assembly founder Gary Mond is criticised after attacking the Board of Deputies for having a social justice committee during an appearance on Talk TV
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
The founder of the National Jewish Assembly (NJA) has questioned the relevance of social justice in Judaism during an appearance on a television talk show.
Gary Mond, who resigned from the Board of Deputies ahead of an investigation into Islamophobic comments to set up the NJA, launched an attack on the communal organisation’s social justice committee during a Talk TV debate on the UK’s migration crisis.
He said:”They actually have, believe it or not, on the Board of Deputies a social justice committee.
“What has that got to do with Judaism?”
Mond had been responding to comments from Talk TV presenter André Walker who said:”We’ve heard of this Jewish Board of Deputies, most people don’t fully understand it. They are all Labour apparatchiks supporting a political party which is basically fairly antisemitic.
“I can’t understand that.”
The Board of Deputies has taken a left-wing political stance and become close with Labour when it should be politically neutral if it wants to fairly represent British Jewry. @TalkTV @andrejpwalker @LoisPerry26 @garysmond pic.twitter.com/SxFzNQZmjN
— NJA (@NJA_UK) May 17, 2023
The NJA chairman’s comments and those of Talk TV host Walker were immediately questioned by Amos Schonfield, who co-chairs the Board’s social justice committee.
Schonfield tweeted:” I co-chair the social justice committee and if Andre Walker is curious about what social justice and Judaism have to do with one another, he need only ask me on.”
He then pointed out that a vice-chair of Mond’s own NJA organisation “is a stalwart of our committee”. Schonfield then added “Mond is the shrinking minority.”
The broadcaster and Jewish journalist Nadine Batchelor-Hunt also criticised Mond’s questioning of the role social justice plays in Judaism.
She tweeted:”Someone should have paid more attention at cheder…” before posting an explanation of the concept of Tikkun olam on the social media platform.
Mond, a long-time supporter of the Conservative Party who last year donated to the Liz Truss leadership campaign, also told the Talk TV audience that of the Deputies serving on the Board “many of them do support Labour.”
Later in the debate presenter Walker launched another attack on the Board describing it as “another religious body turning around saying ‘Conservatives aren’t welcome, traditionalists aren’t welcome … we just want the woke brigade.”
Mond responded:”That is to a considerable extent true.” He then suggested that out of 300 deputies you could “probably bring up five or six of them who are Conservatives.”
The Conservative Friends of Israel official then added there “were far more” Conservatives “before I was forced to leave and certainly there is a move to the left at the Board of Deputies. We have seen that in the fight between Suella Braverman and the Board of Deputies.”
“I appreciate that social justice matters are very important to those on the left of the political spectrum. I think that it would be helpful to this debate if Amos was kind enough to set out the different issues that his committee deals with, so the Jewish community can consider how relevant the individual topics are to Judaism and how they compare with the bread and butter issues of promoting Jewish life, fighting antisemitism and supporting Israel.”
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