Chief Rabbi condemns Starmer at hostage rally where Progressive rabbis were booed off stage

Standing only metres from the Prime Minister’s official residence, the Chief Rabbi added: “So, it is to our government we turn and we say: ‘How will you ever be able to live with the fact that you would have recognised a Palestinian state at the head of which is a terrorist organisation with a stated intention of destroying the state of Israel and harming Jews right around the world? And all this at a time when the hostages are still languishing in the tunnels of Gaza.”

“We say: ‘Right now, this is the time for responsible action. It is not too late. And as for us,….we will continue to do whatever we can for the sake of each and every one of the hostages.”

On October 7, thousands of terrorists breached the border between southern Israel and Gaza, murdering some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage. After more than 670 days, 50 remain in captivity, with about 20 believed to be alive.

Heads of Progressive Judaism Rabbi Josh Levy and Rabbi Charley Baginsky were booed off stage with shouts of “Get off the stage!” and “How dare you!” when they called for a deal, the end of the war and self-determination of the Palestinian people, with Rabbi Levy saying: “The idea of a Palestinian state is not the problem. The Palestinian people, like the Jewish people, have the right to self-determination. What we reject is a methodology that tries to force this future through violence, terror, and the suffering of civilians. Statehood cannot be built on the blood of innocents, and peace will never grow from the soil of fear.”

Rabbi Baginsky added: “We say this because we affirm our common humanity. We mourn for those murdered on October 7, For the soldiers who have since fallen,

And for those innocent civilians whose lives have been lost. Every life is precious.”

Drowned out by heckling from the crowd, they were then led off the stage mid-way through their speech by organisers.

The incident was slammed by the Israeli-led UK-based grassroots movement, Democracy Now, who said afterwards: “Silencing voices because they don’t fit a narrative is wrong and anti-democratic. We stand with Rabbis Josh and Charley….their voices calling for humanity must not be silenced.”

Relatives of hostages also spoke, including Adam Ma’anit, who has been campaigning relentlessly since his cousin Tsachi Idan was abducted and later murdered in Hamas captivity, after witnessing his 18-year-old daughter being killed by terrorists on October 7. “We buried Tsachi next to our beloved Mayaan. You don’t move on from that kind of loss. It is etched into your bones. It sears every waking moment. We breathe in grief, we exhale anguish. But we don’t have the luxury of self-pity. We pick ourselves up and we fight for the 50 hostages still left in Gaza.

Ma’anit added: “I call on the UK government to exert every means at its disposal to exert pressure on Hamas’ and Islamic Jihad’s state benefactors, countries like Qatar and Turkey. I remind them what moral clarity looks like. There must be no reward for terror. There must no recognition without release. We couldn’t save Tsachi…For those still alive, every moment counts.”

Other speakers included CEO of Board of Deputies Michael Weiger, CEO of JLC Claudia Mendoza, Noor Dahri, founder and executive director of Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism and Pastor Bo Ace from Lea Valley Church and a hostage campaigner.