We are Jews who believe wholeheartedly in the right of Israel to exist and flourish and the right of Palestinians to self-determination in a state of their own. We refuse to give up on the vision of Israel and a Palestinian state one day existing side-by-side. This is the only long-term solution that will not involve untold bloodshed.

We mourn the lives lost and the Israeli communities cruelly destroyed by Hamas terrorists on 7th October in the biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. Along with family and friends in Israel still sheltering from rockets, we grieve for the bereaved, injured and missing and call for the immediate release of the hostages taken by Hamas.

We are anguished by the unfolding humanitarian crisis and catastrophic loss of life of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza, caught up in the intractable conflict between Hamas and Israel.

We are deeply concerned that our community is facing unprecedented levels of antisemitism in the UK and around the world.

As an expression of our faith and culture as Jews, with obligations to one another and to the wider world, and affirming Israel’s right and duty to defend itself, we believe the following principles should guide our responses to the grave challenges of the current moment:

1. Judaism places supreme value on the pursuit of peace which requires compromise and painful decisions. True peace is more than merely calling for the cessation of war: it requires a durable plan that offers security and safety for all. It cannot be achieved by one side or another alone, but only by all parties working together.

2. Judaism believes we are all created in the image of God and that every life has value. Every person has value as an individual and as part of a collective. Israelis and Palestinians are peoples with their own experiences and histories. Their lives are full and worthy of respect and consideration. The Palestinians are a people with whom Jews and Israelis must be in dialogue.

3. Our religion and history are steeped in a belief in the importance of law, including the laws of war. These are part of our heritage as Jews, many of them codified after the Second World War to ensure that the terrible tragedy that befell the Jewish people could never happen again. These laws recognise that there are circumstances in which military action is legal and necessary for self-defence. However, they also place clear limits on what harm can be done to civilians. It is precisely at times of unimaginable pain and suffering that we need these laws to ensure that our behaviour reflects our humanity. They apply to all irrespective of the conduct of an enemy and no exceptions to those rules can be derived from the level of suffering caused by that enemy. It is no contradiction for Jews to uphold these laws in defence of ourselves and for the protection of others.

4. This moment requires those of us in the UK not to speak in simple slogans, but to admit complexity. It is possible to recognise, all at the same time, that Hamas is a brutal terrorist organisation; that Israel must take care to protect innocent civilians; that Israelis need and deserve safety and security; that Palestinians have the right to life and dignity; that it can never be acceptable to take hostages or to deny civilians their basic human needs. We must reject both antisemitism and Islamophobia. We must widen our gaze and expand our conversations, entering into dialogue wherever possible. We are all experiencing grief and these encounters may not be easy. It is time – perhaps like no other time in a generation – to act and speak in accordance with these principles.

5. We must do all we can to support the work of those at the heart of this conflict, Arabs and Jews, Israelis and Palestinians, who are working to ensure a safe future for both peoples. We must challenge and draw attention to acts of extremism that threaten to set back even further the possibility of a peaceful resolution of this conflict, wherever they take place.

We must work to ensure that out of this current horror comes a commitment to a future in which Israelis and Palestinians can live in mutual peace and security.

This has been drafted by Rabbis and communal leaders committed to Israel and the Jewish values reflected in this statement. It has been shaped based on the voices and work of Israelis – Jewish and Palestinian citizens – who even now are working for safety, justice and freedom for all.

Over the coming weeks we will populate this website with content and resources that expand upon the principles expressed in this statement.