THE UK CHIEF RABBI SPEAKS ON ANTISEMITISM.

 THE UK CHIEF RABBI SPEAKS ON ANTISEMITISM. BUT ON GENOCIDE? SILENCE.

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis is very quick to call out antisemitism in Britain. But on the genocide being carried out by Israel, a self-proclaimed Jewish state, he is not silent. He is actively defending it. And the record speaks for itself. He wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that accusing Israel of genocide is a “troubling moral deceit” that trivialises the term. His argument? That the clearest evidence Israel did not intend to destroy the people of Gaza is that “it did not in fact do so.” Over 70,000 Palestinians dead, and that is his defence. As far back as January 2024, he called genocide accusations “spurious” and “the ultimate demonisation of the Jewish state.” He has described Israel’s assault on Gaza as “the most outstanding possible thing that a decent, responsible country can do for its citizens.” He has expressed pride in the IDF. When the UK government suspended some arms export licences to Israel, he condemned it as undermining a “close strategic ally.” When the government moved to recognise a Palestinian state, he called it a “profound betrayal.” And he insists that anti-Zionism is antisemitism, a position that many British Jews themselves strongly reject. Even the Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who is proudly Jewish, has accused Mirvis of not representing British Jews, saying he “speaks in the interests of defending the Israeli government.” And here is the uncomfortable truth. You cannot demand sympathy for Jewish community while remaining silent about an ongoing genocide being carried out by Israel, a self proclaimed Jewish state. Sympathy is a two-way street. If the Chief Rabbi wants to lead with moral authority, he has to apply that morality consistently, not selectively. Speak up for Palestinians, or don’t be surprised when people stop listening.