Th e p ch a o p s er e n
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FREE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR 13 July 2023
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24 Tammuz 5783
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Issue No.1323
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@JewishNewsUK
‘My family launched the Jewish Museum – now it needs saving’
Museum founder Wilfred Samuel
We preview the new season of epic Israeli drama The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem Page 29
Our award-winning property lawyers can provide sound advice on: Freehold acquisitions Lease extensions Right to Manage Service charge disputes Residential property Commercial property Property litigation & disputes
We’re counting our blessings!
Help prevent a cultural jewel from becoming history P8-9
Beautifully straightforward legal advice bishopandsewell.co.uk
Chief Rabbi and Rachel Riley receive honours from King Page 11
Israeli anger boils over on to streets of London Expats in the UK gather outside ambassador’s home as police in Jerusalem use water cannon on judicial reform protesters
Protesters outside Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely’s home in north London on Sunday
Tens of thousands of people protested this week in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and London against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plans, writes Lee Harpin. Police used a water cannon to clear a major highway in Jerusalem, while thousands of officers prevented the shutdown of Ben Gurion airport, as around 80 people were arrested across the country. Anger also grew in Jewish communities worldwide, including in the UK, where Israeli expats led protests outside ambassador Tzipi Hotovely’s north London residence as well as at an event she attended at the Kinloss synagogue in Finchley on Tuesday evening. Anger increased among opponents of the hard-right Netanyahu government this week as a bill to remove the power of the Supreme
Court to review ministers’ decisions passed its first reading in the Knesset on Monday. The previous evening around 300 people joined a demonstration outside ambassador Hotovely’s residence – an unprecedented show of anger from expats living in the UK – along with a small number of allies born here. Some protesters held banners which said ‘Get Off The Fence’, a call for communal organisations and the wider community in this country to express outrage at Israel’s political drift further rightwards. Sharon Shochat, one of the protest organisers, said: “On Monday night the Israeli government aimed to abolish the ‘Reasonableness Doctrine’. This would give it unlimited power to do as it pleases and would be the a milestone in turning Israel into a dictatorship.
“Some 300 Israelis and British Jews came together to protest. To those who haven’t yet stood up in defence of Israel’s democracy – the time to act is now.” Police officers watched on as the crowd in London engaged in chants warning about the significance of Monday’s vote in the Knesset, a move aimed at preventing the country’s High Court from blocking government decisions that it found to be unreasonable. Among those to address those gathered was Dr Sheldon Stone, who said that if the legislation was passed it would represent the “first step towards turning Israel into a dictatorship”. He said that if it was passed there would be no checks and balances on the government in Continued on page 2