‘We’re family not critical friends’ Rosenberg sets out Board’s Israel stance
Board of Deputies President tells UK government: words on Hezbollah not enough — act on it
Board of Deputies President Phil Rosenberg has sought to define the communal organisation’s position on Israel and its government, describing the challenge of doing so “in a world of polarisation, of messy and combative conversation.”
Speaking at the close of a discussion among Deputies at last weekend’s plenary meeting, Rosenberg acknowledged the tension at the heart of the Board’s approach.
“Inevitably, considering the diversity of the community, some people will think we don’t speak out enough,” he said. “Some people will think we speak out too much.”
“We’re constantly striking that balance, and conversations like this are helpful in defining it,” he added. “Colleagues rightly pointed out that Israelis — particularly ministers on the right — tend to be annoyed by people who describe themselves as critical friends.
“We’re not critical friends, we’re family. And that means a deeper, more intense relationship with Israel — sharing in its joys, mourning its losses, and sometimes feeling the disappointment that family has towards family.”
He argued that the Board must hold two thoughts simultaneously — something he said many people seem unable to do.
“In a world of polarisation, of messy and combative conversation, we are left to hold two concurrent thoughts,” he said. “The first is that Israel has the right to expect — it deserves — security.”
Rosenberg also set out the Board’s position in its dealings with the UK government, taking aim at what he suggested was an empty approach to Lebanon — calling for Hezbollah to disarm without taking meaningful steps to make it happen.
“In our conversations with the UK Government, we are going to continue to campaign robustly for Israel’s security,” he said.
“That means recognising Iran for the threat that it is. The campaign for the proscription of the IRGC will continue unabated. It is unacceptable that they remain an unproscribed organisation.”
On Lebanon, he added: “We want to see Hezbollah disarmed.
“We want the UK Government to lean into the current normalisation talks, which would be a huge blessing for the region.
“But it is no longer enough to call for Hezbollah’s disarmament as an afterthought — or as a way of deflecting criticism of Israel.
They need to show what they are actually going to do to achieve it.”
The president reserved some of his sharpest words for the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
“There are core values absolutely embedded in the Declaration of Independence, in every founding document of Zionism, which are not currently being lived out by Israel’s government,” he said.
He pointed to mounting violence by settlers in the West Bank and what he described as discriminatory policies — including the application of the death penalty exclusively to Palestinian offenders.
“To the Israeli government, to the opposition, to civil society — our message is: do better,” said Rosenberg. “Do a lot better.
“We cannot defend the indefensible. We will not defend the indefensible.
“What we have seen in the West Bank, and this discriminatory death penalty, is unacceptable. We will not defend it.”
He then turned to the continued prominence of far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in Israeli politics.
“If we continue to see Smotrich or Ben-Gvir speaking on behalf of the Israeli government as ministers — even if that is not official government policy — it will continue to degrade Israel’s standing in the world,” he said.
“Different political leaders need to understand that. Some critics of Israel do come from a place of antisemitism — no doubt about that — but others genuinely want Israel to succeed and thrive, and are appalled by the erosion of the Western democratic values that we have long held up as one of Israel’s greatest strengths.”
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