Board upholds decision to sanction signatories of FT letter

Describing the ruling as “final,” the Board said that after “a review of all the original materials and the responses submitted by the signatories of the letter,” an independent panel had upheld the decision to issue warning letters to 31 deputies.

The panel also “upheld the findings that five deputies exacerbated the breach of the code of conduct with additional steps that promoted the letter.” The Board’s code of conduct states deputies must “not represent their own view as the views of the Board to third parties,” and “not bring the Board into disrepute by their actions and activities.”

In mid-April, 36 deputies signed an open letter published in the FT criticising the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank, claiming the Jewish State had “chosen to break the ceasefire and return to war in Gaza.” The letter stated that “as British Jews,” the deputies could “no longer stay silent on the war,” expressing deep concern for Israel’s future.

Following a two-month investigation, five deputies were suspended for two years and 31 received warning letters.

Those suspended were Harriett Goldenberg, former vice-chair of the Board’s International Division; Philip Goldenberg, lawyer and Liberal Democrat councillor; Baron Frankel, chief executive of the Portland Trust; Robert Stone; and Rebecca Singerman-Knight.

The JC understands that Frankel stepped down as a deputy following the suspension.

The deputies subsequently appealed the decision and the original sanctions were re-examined after the appeal panel found a procedural irregularity that meant the deputies had not been given access to all the materials used in the investigation. Nevertheless, the panel ultimately reached the same conclusion as the original committee.

The Board has repeatedly stated that the sanctions were not imposed because of the deputies’ criticism of Israel, but because of how they expressed their views and particularly through a press release accompanying the letter.

The appeal panel’s decision noted that “nowhere in the letter or related press release is it made clear that the 36 were a small minority within the Board of some 300 deputies”.

However, the press release connected to the FT letter, issued by some of the signatories, described the Board as “comprising 300 deputies”.

Nonetheless, the Board’s judgment indicates that the signatories failed to make it sufficiently clear that their letter did not represent the Board’s official position.

“In line with the original panel, the Appeal Panel emphasised that Deputies have the right to represent their individual views and those of their communities freely. The breaches of the Code of Conduct did not refer to content of the letter but the way the signatories promoted it,” the Board said.

However, the JC understands that most of the 36 never saw the press release before it was issued.

The panel further suggested that the five deputies who received the strongest sanctions were “among the moving force behind the course of action which produced the press release and letter”. But one suspended deputy told the JC this was “factually untrue,” saying they never saw the press release.