A British rabbi whose wife and two daughters were killed by Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank has sharply criticised Andy Burnham, accusing him of targeting “Jewish Israelis like me”.
Rabbi Leo Dee, 54, condemned what he called the PM’s “hypocrisy” over a boycott of products from Israeli settlements, saying ministers had failed to take comparable action against Islamist extremists.
He singled out Mr Burnham in particular, claiming there had been no meaningful response to the Palestinian Authority’s notorious so-called “pay-for-slay” system.
Under the policy, the families of the gunmen who murdered his wife Lucy, 48, and daughters Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, receive thousands of pounds a year for life from the Palestinian government, which critics describe as a reward for terrorism.
The PM and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband imposed sanctions on goods linked to illegal Israeli settlements in response to a deeply contentious project they say threatens to destroy any remaining prospect of a two-state solution.
But Rabbi Dee argued that the announcement ignored the “pay-for-slay” policy, which he said fuels and funds extremist Palestinian violence in the West Bank and poses an equally serious obstacle to peace.
Rabbi Dee, whose family were killed by Palestinian terrorists, accused Labour of “hypocrisy”
Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham were accused of singling out Jewish Israelis
Rabbi Dee, who lives in Efrat, wrote: ‘I am perhaps the British citizen who has suffered most directly from Britain’s misguided policies towards Israel and the Palestinians over the past 25 years.
‘My Oxford-educated wife, Lucy, and my British-educated daughters, Maia and Rina, were brutally murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the Jordan Valley in April 2023.
‘Since their murders, the terrorists’ families have been eligible for payments from the Palestinian Authority under its notorious “pay-for-slay” system.
‘The terrorist organisations responsible for so much bloodshed have also flourished in an environment sustained for decades by international funding, including British support for the PA and UNRWA.
‘And now you propose boycotting products made by Jews living in the West Bank.
‘You insist that you are not against Israelis. Yet you are prepared to single out Jewish Israelis like me for economic punishment.
‘That is the hypocrisy I find so difficult to accept.’
Rabbi Lee’s intervention comes after Mr Miliband dismissed a warning from Britain’s Chief Rabbi that the policy would harm British Jews.
Sir Ephraim Mirvis condemned the Foreign Secretary for implementing trade restrictions and accused him of fuelling ‘mendacious anti-Israel rhetoric’ that would put Jewish people in danger.
Rabbi Dee’s Oxford-educated wife, Lucy, and my British-educated daughters, Maia and Rina, were killed
However, Mr Miliband told Sky News: ‘I’m a proud British Jew and I don’t agree with the Chief Rabbi. I have great respect for the Chief Rabbi but I don’t agree with him.’
Rabbi Leo’s wife and two daughters were killed six months before the October 7 terror atrocity in an unprovoked attack.
School teacher Lucy, 48, and her daughters Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, were driving to Tiberias on holiday when Palestinian gunmen ambushed it and shot them dead.
He remarried to Aliza Teplitzky, 44, last year, and has three surviving children: Keren, 22, Tali, 20, and Yehuda, 17.
Rabbi Leo said to Mr Burnham that if ‘you genuinely believe your policy is principled rather than discriminatory’ he would debate him ‘anywhere and at any time’.
He said: ‘For decades, Palestinian terrorism has killed thousands of innocent Israelis, like my wife and daughters, while the Palestinian Authority has operated a system financially rewarding prisoners and the families of those killed carrying out attacks partially funded by the UK. Yet your moral outrage is directed not at those institutions, but at Jewish businesses in Judea and Samaria.
Of course Palestinians have also been killed by Israelis, including tragically innocent people. But many deaths have occurred during terrorist attacks, armed clashes and Israeli security operations.
The controversial E1 settlement that will slice the West Bank in two
‘Equating those circumstances with a government system that financially rewards convicted terrorists and their families obscures a crucial moral distinction.
‘To paraphrase the late Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks: criticising or boycotting Israel is not necessarily antisemitic. Singling out Israel for standards applied to no other country can be.’
Britain controversially recognised Palestine last year despite conditioning it on comprehensive reform of the Palestinian Authority.
Itamar Marcus, Director of Palestinian Media Watch, said: ‘If the British government were genuinely committed to advancing peace, it would announce that recognition of a Palestinian state is being frozen until the PA fulfills the reforms Britain itself demanded.
‘It would also impose sanctions on PA officials and institutions responsible for rewarding and glorifying terror, first and foremost those who have glorified the murderers of British citizens such as then PM Muhammad Shtayyeh who said of the murderers of Lucy, Maia and Rina Dee: “Glory and eternity to our righteous Martyrs.”
‘Instead, Britain has chosen to support the PA despite its continued rejectionism and support for terror.’
Greg Smith MP, Parliamentary Chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel, said: ‘The whole basis of the Government’s policy shift against Israel rests on a deliberate and dangerous downplaying of Palestinian support for terror while singling out Israel unfairly for criticism over the West Bank.’
