British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould has been strengthening his ties with the ultra-Orthodox sector, and not for the first time. The move is part of an overall strategy of the British government: To gain a mandate for the peace process in the streets of Bnei Brak and Jerusalem, Ynet News reports.
On Sunday, Ambassador Gould held a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony for heads of the Haredi sector in Israel at his private residence, Ynet’s Tali Farkash reported. The United Kingdom’s — Jewish — ambassador welcomed his guests with a speech prepared entirely in Hebrew, noting that Britain’s goal was to increase cooperation with the fast-growing Haredi sector in Israel, as part of an agenda to promote the “two states for two people” initiative among the sector.
According to the report, 150 rabbis, politicians, past and current mayors, businesspeople and representatives of the media attended the unusual event, and the ambassador was instructed by his advisers in advance to avoid shaking hands with the female guests.
“I believe wholeheartedly that I am an ambassador for all Israelis and for all citizens of the State of Israel, including the haredi society,” Mr. Gould told Ynet. “The haredim are an important part of the Israeli society. They are a key voice in politics, and it is impossible to connect to the Israeli society without connecting to the haredi sector within it.”
“Britain wants to promote the agenda of two states for two people,” Avraham Kroizer, the Ambassador’s Haredi adviser, told Ynet. “For that purpose it understands that the haredi public must be an inseparable part of the peace initiative, and therefore it has to talk to them. That’s the main reason.”
“The entire haredi public, excluding Chabad and several Hasidic movements, does not see handing over territories for peace as a great offense,” he added. “Although not to begin with, but for peace – absolutely. That was also the stance of Rabbi Shach and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who saw nothing wrong with it.”
Touting his unprecedented approach, Ambassador Gould told Ynet, “We are looking into two things: We want to listen to the Haredi population, to get to know it and understand the things that are important to it. Not to talk, but first of all to listen. In the second stage, as part of the relationship, there is of course the necessary need to advance peace with the Palestinians.”
Other participants in the event said the road to the Haredi community in Britain, largely in the city of London, goes through the Haredim living in Israel, and that the British government’s goal is actually to strengthen relations with the local, well-established Jewish community in Britain.
Photo via Twitter
(Jacob kornbluh – YWN)
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9 Responses
They are getting clever (and the Americans and Arabs will start getting the same idea). The zionists have declared war on the hareidim, who for the most part had been uninvolved in national security issues. If either territorial concessions or a “one state” solution can end the war, regardless of what it does to the zionist character of the country, the hareidim will be better off since hareidim feel that Torah and mitsvos are more important than territory or having a nominally Jewish state.
Hareidim would probably support giving up the West Bank, or even giving up having an independent zionist state – if – it resulted in the hareidim being free of conscription and with sufficient autonomy to exist peacefully.
“The road to the haredi population in israel goes through the haredi population in britain’ HUH?? These people are drinking vodka at the wrong time. The haredim in london are minuscule and the haredi crowd in israel does not take its marching orders from golders green or stamford hill. They don’t even know who they are.
This ia super hyped meeting that is totally irrelevant and Ambassador Gould has been hoodwinked.
I am confused is he the British ambassador who represents the crowns policies to the government or is he the Israeli ambassador talking to his people
If the Israeli ambassador for to the court of day jed tried ybis he’d be sent home Interfering with an independent government is wrong. And ad he said I over stepping my bounds
Re: “the road to…”
I believe he was saying that the Hareidi community in Britian is his road to the Hareidi community in Israel, which he hopes to co-opt to support the policy of the British government by seeing that it is in the interests of the Israeli Hareidim. He has an excellent opportunity to convince a group that is perhaps a tenth of Israel’s Jewish population to switch from be passive supporters of the “hawk” faction, to being active supports of the “dove” faction. If the “war on the hareidim” continues to escalate the Israeli hareidim will be increasingly willing to seek help, if only as a matter of survival. Right now, the hareidim desperately need an end to conscription (the Israeli courts won’t allow draft exemptions, and it would be easier to end conscription than to pass a basic law exempting hareidim from the draft), along with assurance they can transfer money from overseas – and in they can find those willing to offer what they need, and the British ambassador would love to make the “shidduch.” The biggest beneficiaries of PEACE at this moment would be the western powers and the hareidim (since peace would end the need for conscription) – even in peace is not in either the Israelis nor Palestinians interests.
There’s akuperma at 3:55 PM, STILL not learning a word of the Torah he laments is so lacking in Israel.
I think I should be dan l’kaf z’chus. He is not Jewish, so he has no obligation to learn or do mitzvos. He simply enjoys bashing Israel.
This is an standard British policy of dividing populations to destabilize a region to (hopefully) allow British interests to exert influence. Rather than building stable governments, they left a mess.
For example:
pre 1948 partition plan of the palestinian mandate into two unworkable areas lead to instability to this day.
1948 withdrawal from the sub-continent led to an ongoing division (and creation of two nuclear powers) Pakistan and India. With ongoing religious strife and atrocities.
Ireland and its long history of strife.
Sudan
The failed state of Nigeria.
The failed state of Somalia.
#5 – I love Eretz Yisrael. I hope to move there as soon as we get rid of the zionists. If not this gilgul, then the next. We’re a patient people.
and #6- Yes, the British were to blame for the was in Israel and the war in Pakistan and the wars in Ireland. It was a last attempt to save their Empire, which was abolished the same time they lost Ireland, Israel and India. — But today the UK is basically the American’s junior partner, and if the UK is doing something, assume the American State Department is in on it. Expect to see the US making more overtures to American hareidim to try to use Israeli hareidim to undermine the Israeli nationalists (bluntly, a withdrawal from the West Bank will be easier to bring about if you have lots of very Jewish-looking Jews on you side)
The British people have never favored a Jewish State and would love to knock another black eye at the Haganah, Irgun and Stern gang of the 1940s.
There is no peace partner and all this rubbish of 2 states for 2 people is the old ‘salami slicer’. Charedim are so ingrained in Yehuda and Shomron in the cities of Beitar, Kiryat Sefer, Nvei Yakov, Ramat Shlomo, Emanuel, Nazerat Elite and many other yishuvim. Over half of the “settlers” are Charedim….who are not planning, willing or able to leave their homes & will fight an expulsion.
#1- Akuperma: Which haredim are you talking about? I’m not sure how many in Modiin Illit are looking to resettle, nor would they be interested in losing heath benefits and other governments programs that are currently only available from the State of Israel in that land. If the PA or any similar entity would take over there, most certainly the haredi quality of life would suffer.