Charedi group says Abbott solicited letter of support
V THE UNION of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations has said that Diane Abbott’s office solicited a letter of support it wrote to her which she has used to challenge claims of Labour Jew-hate.
The UOHC, a body that represents “the interests of strictly Orthodox Jews”, wrote to the shadow home secretary in March saying it believed she “wholeheartedly opposes antisemitism”, contrary to “certain media reports”.
Ms Abbott tweeted the letter last week after being accused of “using Charedi Jews for political gain” for saying “not every element of the Jewish community” thought Jeremy Corbyn was an antisemite.
The UOHC letter attacked media reports “which have alleged that you do not wholeheartedly oppose antisemitism” as “the views of one individual”.
The letter to the shadow home secretary dismissed what it called “allegations” about Ms Abbott’s attitude towards antisemitism, saying that these “are in no way shared by our Rabbinate, nor by the community in general”.
But Rabbi Yaakov Conrad, registrar of the UOHC’s rabbinate and the sole signatory of the letter, told the JC it was issued because Ms Abbott’s election agent, Barry Gray, requested it be sent. Rabbi Conrad said he wrote the letter because Mr Gray had told the rabbinate at a Beth Din sitting that Rabbi Avraham Pinter was suggesting Ms Abbott “had a problem with antisemitism”.
Rabbi Pinter, a member of the Strictly Orthodox community in Stamford Hill and a former Labour councillor, had said publicly he was “shocked” by Ms Abbott’s failure to intervene over a motion at the Hackney North Constituency Labour Party (CLP) that dismissed concerns over antisemitism.
He said he “no longer feels welcome” at CLP meetings, adding: “The atmosphere is absolutely toxic these days.”
Speaking last week, Rabbi Pinter said he was “distressed” to learn that he had been “used” to get the letter sent in support of Ms Abbott.
Mr Gray said he visited the UOHC to “express solidarity with them following press reports about a motion passed by Hackney North CLP. I did not mention Rabbi Pinter or any other individual in the Charedi community. The letter the UOHC wrote was suggested by others in the meeting, not by me, and I was not involved in any discussion
about the letter’s contents.”