Orthodox rabbis cast ethical spotlight on Israel at London conference

While Israel’s return to sovereignty was an extraordinary privilege, he argued, it carried responsibility for the use of power, the conduct of government and the moral health of society.

He distinguished between the legitimate use of force in defence of life and the belief that force can solve every political or social problem.

The Jewish people should seek dialogue and compromise even amid disagreement, he counselled, telling the audience: “The moment we won’t agonise, the moment we won’t debate, we’ll be in big trouble.”

Former Israeli Minister for the Diaspora Rabbi Michael Melchior, drawing on his many years of experience of engagement between Jewish and Muslim figures, offered a message of hope, suggesting that “religious peace can make the breakthrough”.

At a concluding session, the attacks of extremist Jewish settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank were a subject that clearly exercised participants.

One person who had visited the area said the situation was “worse than what is reported” and described the attacks as “massacres”.

Another audience member challenged the panellists to be out on the hilltops protesting at what was going on as representatives of Torah, saying: “You should be out there.”

But the view was put that the radical settler youth would pay no attention to the Orthodox mainstream but listen only to particular rabbis.

The panel: (from left) Rabbi Baruch Weintraub, Rav Mosheh Lichtenstein, Rabbi Jeremy Stavitsky (obscured), Rabbi Yosef Blau, Rabbi Michael Melchior, Dr Nechumi Yaffe and Sruli Fruchter[Missing Credit]

The programme included a look at Charedi society led by Dr Nechumi Yaffe, who organisers said was the first Israeli Charedi woman to received a PhD from an Israeli university.

Rabbi Baruch Weintraub, a senior rabbi at Har Etzion who was a reservist tank gunner in Gaza, reflected on soldiers’ conflicting ethical judgments.

Rabbi Yosef Blau – a senior figure at New York’s Yeshiva University who moved to Israel last year and who authored a letter calling for “moral clarity” on Gaza last summer, signed by other Orthodox rabbis – argued that justified criticism of Israel can be a duty, but must arise from love and be addressed to Israel rather than its enemies.

The event’s main organiser paid tribute to the leadership of Ner Israel’s senior rabbi, Dayan Eliezer Zobin, saying: “It required real courage to create a space in which deeply committed Orthodox Jews could speak honestly about Israel’s most difficult moral and political questions.

“Dayan Zobin has emerged as an important moral voice and thoughtful communal leader, demonstrating that unwavering love for Israel can, and must, include reflection, responsibility, and principled debate.”

Dayan Zobin commented: “This was, ultimately, a day of learning, of conscientious conversation. Love of Israel is not measured by silence. It is measured by the seriousness with which we wrestle with Israel’s choices, the generosity with which we listen to one another, and the responsibility we accept for the Jewish future.”

The Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, addressed a private dinner for the speakers and sponsors after the event.