Miliband rejects chief rabbi's claim British Jews in greater danger after sanctions move

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband dismissed the Chief Rabbi’s assertion that British Jews are in greater peril following the UK’s sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. He described himself as a “proud British Jew” and said he disagreed with Sir Ephraim Mirvis, who labelled the move a “truly acheronian day” that would “succeed lone successful bolstering the precise extremism they question to target”. Miliband stressed the need to confront antisemitism while upholding British values, stating, “We each request to bash much to tackle antisemitism,” Miliband said, “But I judge we tin bash that and basal up for British values.” The Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 1,926 incidents of anti‑Jewish hatred across the UK in the first six months of 2026, a 21% increase over the same period in 2025. Prime Minister Andy Burnham defended the sanctions, telling MPs, “Britain has to basal for fairness against injustice. Where radical are being bullied retired of their homes... we volition ever basal with the underdog.” The Palestinian presidency welcomed the decision, calling it “an important measurement towards confronting Israel's assemblage strategy and its violations against the Palestinian people”. Reaction within the UK Jewish community has been mixed. The Chief Rabbi denounced the announcement as “little much than governmental emblem bearing for mendacious anti-Israel rhetoric”. Sir Ephraim elaborated, saying, “Gesture authorities of this benignant feeds into an progressively hostile sermon astir Israel, and the cumulative effect of specified punitive policies is to further embolden those, astatine location and abroad, who usage hatred as a limb against Jews.” When questioned on Mirvis’s comments, Miliband replied, “I don't hold with the main rabbi, idiosyncratic whom I person large respect.” Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he added, “anyone who holds British Jews - oregon so Jews astir the satellite - liable for the actions of the Israeli government, is engaging in antisemitism, axenic and simple.” The Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) warned that the sanctions “risks becoming a de facto boycott of Israel” and accused Miliband of “yielding to unit from the astir utmost elements of British society”. The Board of Deputies of British Jews noted that issuing the announcement ahead of Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year festival - raises “concerns for communal information at their highest levels... felt peculiarly acutely by British Jews”. It also warned that the deteriorating relationship between the UK and Israel could “further inflame assemblage tensions present too”, reiterating its prior cautions to the Israeli authorities about the “intolerable settler violence” that harms Israel’s reputation.