THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE GETTING WHEN YOU VOTE FOR YACHAD.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews is shortly to vote whether to accept the British equivalent of JStreet into their ranks.  

In May of this year, the American Jewish Organizations rejected JStreet as being anti-Israel.  Yachad, like JStreet, claim to be pro-Israel and pro-peace, even as they campaign against Israel in a divisive manner that is the antithesis of pro-peace.

If Yachad and their BOD supporters were truly pro-Israel and pro-peace they would have led the rally in support of Israel outside the Israeli embassy when Israel was attacked by Palestinian rockets and terrorists last summer. Instead, they were missing.

If Yachad and their BOD supporters were truly pro-Israel and pro-peace they would be speaking out right now condemning the Mahmoud Abbas inspired incitement to terror and violence that is killing and wounding Israelis in Jerusalem. Instead they are silent.

Yachad and their Board of Deputies supporters display all the symptoms of an abusive husband. They tell us that they love us even as they are attacking and abusing us.

This type of love we can do without. Say NO to Yachad!

Instead, the Board voters are for a Yachad that knowingly hosted a radical fringe group that calls Israeli soldiers and the IDF “criminals,” and they deliberately did it on Israel’s Independence Day when all Israelis were honouring our fallen heroes. How insulting and so anti-Israel is that?

Board of Deputies voters support a Yachad that provocatively brings groups on field trips to a West Bank village supporting Palestinian claims that are being adjudicated in the Israeli Supreme Court. Do they think Israeli judges will be swayed by Yachad’s biased demonstrations? And what of Yachad’s propaganda tours if the judges find the Palestinian claims are false, as so many have proven to be in the past?

It comes down to a single truth that Yachad and their Board supporters have decided to prejudge against any and all Israeli rights and legitimacy that are part of a difficult and lengthy negotiation process with a violence and rejectionist Palestinian leadership. It comes down to Yachad and Board members taking a particular political stand against Israel by accepting that all of Judea & Samaria and parts of Jerusalem are “occupied” and Israel’s presence is “illegal” no matter what Israel says or whatever legal proof Israel can provide to the contrary.

At a 2012 SOAS panel discussion they shared with the BDS Movement the leader of Yachad said, “I didn’t tell anyone here not to support BDS….I agree with you that a unified Palestinian strategy is hugely important.”

As such, they are knowingly weakening Israel’s position in peace talks with the Palestinians. How anti-Israel and anti-peace is that?

Those who say that Yachad should be welcomed into the Board of Deputies in the name of freedom of speech are wrong. Yachad’s speech will be broad cast externally, not within the Board chamber. A vote for Yachad will grant them license to continue their anti-Israel anti-peace campaigning in the official name of British Jewry.

Is this what you really want if you are truly pro-Israel and pro-peace? Can you really vote for such a group to speak out publicly in the name of British Jews?

Barry Shaw. Author of ‘Israel Reclaiming the Narrative.’ www.israelnarrative.com