The de-Zionization of Anglo Jewry, by Isi Liebler in the Jerusalem Post

Jonathan, many thanks for bringing this to our attention. Are you as disconcerted as I that a foreign Zionist leader should presume to tell our Zionist and communal leaders what to say or do?

attaboy, keep on twisting the truth, as always!

"His sheer arrogance was best demonstrated in his most outrageous remark: “I think the government of Israel has to recognize that their actions directly impact on me as a Jew living in London, UK."

Us in Israel, should manage our policies with the number one priority of possible impact on slobs like mick davis of London, UK, who refuses to live in Israel but claims the right to dictate its policies?

Very funny. Fortunately for Israel, UK Jewry is a nonentity.

As Avraham points put in the overal scheme of things what UK Jewry has to say is largely irrelevant.
However, it is nevertheless interesting to note that apart from Samuel Hayek and Jonathan Hoffman no-one else amongst the so called "leadership" of the UK community has come out publicly to support the government of Israel and it's Prime Minister and take issue with Mr Davis, rather they seem to be suffering from the brown nose syndrome and would rather "keep quiet, don't rock the boat, we might upset someone, we need the money" etc etc.
In the event of a future catastrophe Mr Davis can toddle off back to South Africa where they really understand the meaning of "Apartheid", as for the rest of the we have to deal with the rising tide of vile and violent anti-semitism, appeasing and agreeing with our enemies is NOT the way to deal with the situation.
The moment Mr Davis comments were published I wrote to the JC for publication this week, however, with the current political stance and control of the paper I think it unlikely they wil publish, but no doubt there'll be plenty of left wing views for us to read and choke over.

"Apeasement" is a bad word since 1938. Why anyone, let alone UK Jews, would want apeasement with the terror organisations that run the PA, the Hamas and the Hezbollah?
I mean, except one who like tspam is dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish State.

Isi Leibler is a Colossus - a marvellous man.

He said something nice about Mr Hoffman too! Kudos to Mr Liebler for bringing this to our attention - it's enough we have non-Jewish enemies without having so-called leaders of British Jewry asking the Government of Israel to put the citizens of Israel at risk so Mr Davis does not have an unpleasant time at a social gathering with his non-Jewish associates. As Mr Liebler says time was when remarks like that would mean an instant resignation in shame. Unfortunately so bad is the situation in the UK that no one called him out for this and some in fact supported the outrageous claim tantamount to if the Jews of Israel would only behave themselves and commit suicide then the anti-Semites would leave the Jews in England alone. And Tsam the reason why we feel need to say something is because what Mr Davis said plays straight into the hands of the anti-Semites by giving them the excuse that they are not being anti-Semitic by singling out Israel because the leader of a major Jewish organisation agrees with them.

Advi3er, those are very interesting points you raise. Thank you. Yet, it appears from a poll on this website that a majority of those bothered to answer -- more than 60% -- agree with Mick Davis. It will be interesting to see tomorrow the diversity and amount of letters in the JC on this subject. No doubt, however, those on the left or right will say that the other side is getting a better show.
Maybe we need to look at this a different way. When it comes to "playing into the hands of antisemites" perhaps we should adopt the Ben-Gurion maxim of not worrying about what they say but concentrating on what we do.
IAC, perhaps the time has come for a more mature relationship between Israel and the Jewish people it represents as the nation state of the Jewish people. By mature, I mean a full and frank exchange of views between the two parties. Israel can say what it likes about diaspora Jews, while reciprocally diaspora Jews can say what they like about Israel. The air would be much clearer then and we would all know where we stand.

"appeasing and agreeing with our enemies is NOT the way to deal with the situation"

That's it, in a nutshell. The so-called 'leaderhip' is appeasing and brown-nosing like mad. That goes all they up to (or down to?) the absurd chief rabbi. He sits in the Lords, but is too much of a coward to rock the boat.

"perhaps we should adopt the Ben-Gurion maxim of not worrying about what they say but concentrating on what we do"

Up to a point, dear Cropper, up to a point. Normally I agree with this maxim. However, the tide of antisemitism in Europe, especially in Britain, has reached such proportions that remaining silent becomes collaboration, both for moral and for pragmatic reasons. Antisemitism should be exposed and countered in every way possible, because it is now becoming a real practical danger.

Indeed, Yoni, that is an excellent point. Antisemitism should be exposed and countered. However, that should not distract us. Can we not multitask? We must have a full and frank exchange of views between the diaspora and Israel.

(By the way, it's Up to a point, Lord Copper...)

This might be of interest in this debate:

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=188895

“We need to get into dialogue that isn’t just telling Diaspora Jews to make aliya and support whatever the Israeli government does,” she said. “It has to be much deeper. We have to work on our common bond.”

As opposition leader, Livni said she will learn more about issues important to Diaspora Jews so she could be ready to deal with them if she gets elected. She said she would also continue to take Diaspora Jewry’s side against the government on issues like conversion.

“The contribution of Diaspora Jews is not just money,” she said. “We must take their views into account on key issues when we make key decisions about Israel’s future.”

It seems some people in Israeli politics are more sanguine about the opinions of the Diaspora than many in the Diaspora itself.

I guess you are free to disagree with Livni until or if she becomes Prime Minister.

Excellent, Ray. I suppose that would be part of the full and frank exchange of views between Israel -- the national home of the Jewish people -- and those Jewish people who do not live in that national home. Seems to me that Livni and Davis are talking sense and being, as you say, sanguine than those who rushed to condemn the UJIA leader.

I am not that comfortable with much of Davis's speech, but I am interested in exploring the Diaspora's right to criticise, as it's not as black and white as some seem to suggest.

Those that read what I write know that I am much more interested in finding positive things to say about Israel than digging up every bit of dirt I can to push a political agenda, as some do.

Nevertheless, I think this issue is an important one for the UK and the US and needs to be aired and discussed; hopefully without hysteria, though that may be a forlorn hope.

"By the way, it's Up to a point, Lord Copper"

Yes, dear, I am well aware of that. It was a joke, a reference to Roy Cropper. Oh, never mind.

"We must have a full and frank exchange of views between the diaspora and Israel."

No, we don't. Individuals may exercise their right to free speech. That's all.