Board of Deputies of British Jews

The Board of Deputies of British Jews (English MPs Committee of British Jews ) is the leading representative body of British Jewry. Founded in 1760 as a joint body of Sephardic (Spanish and Portuguese ) and Ashkenazi ( Central and Eastern European ) Jewish communities in London, it has become a recognized forum for the different areas of the British Jewish community.

The Committee will Coll directed by Henry Grunwald QC, who was elected in 2003 for a three-year office. A notable after the president was the Victorian philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore, who traveled around the world in the 19th century to provide assistance to persecuted Jews. Later Greville Janner was president.

The Chief Executive of the Board is Jon Benjamin, the 2005 Neville Nagler followed.

The Committee consists of the elected members of the synagogue congregations, synagogue covenants and other Jewish community organizations such as charities and youth groups. He serves as the main reference point for government, media and the wider society. The Committee devoted its attention to all matters affecting the lives of the Jews of Britain, including an interfaith action program.

The office is located in the house of Isaac D' Israeli, the father of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.

Criticism and controversy

2003 accused the Committee of the charity Interpal terrorism. Interpal threatened with libel suit, whereupon the Committee apologized and agreed out of court. The Committee was involved in the Finegold affair, as the London Mayor Ken Livingstone Jewish reporter, Oliver Finegold or its newspaper compared to a concentration camp guard. The remarks of the mayor sparked widespread protests. Together with the Commission for Racial Equality, the Committee filed a complaint to the Standards Board for England and asked the mayor to apologize to the reporter. The Mayor formally condemned the Holocaust, but stuck to his remarks about the journalists and noticed with regard to religion was the " Committee " only a small part of Jewish society.