In Reply to Prince William

Dear Prince William,

I want to start by saying that I am writing to you as an admirer. I am a long term supporter of the British Royal family in general and of you and the Princess of Wales in particular. I am sorry that your family members have been going through a rough time recently and wish both the King and the Princess of Wales speedy and complete recoveries.

You and the Princess of Wales seem to be such thoughtful, intelligent and caring people (and wonderful parents) and I am sure that you took advice and thought long and hard before making your statement today about the situation in Gaza. It is unusual for the Royal Family to involve themselves in political matters so I understand you must be deeply concerned by the situation to have made this statement at all. I do hope it isn’t used to cause harm. I fear that it might be.

I left the UK to live in Israel 5 years ago. I lived for 50 years in the UK and am very grateful to the country for the opportunities it gave me. I hope while I was there that I contributed in many ways to society in whatever ways I could. I was an active member of the Jewish community and worked in the nonprofit sector after training as a chartered accountant. I experienced some fairly limited antisemitism while living there but I have to say that the fact that Jeremy Corbyn could be the leader of the official Opposition party in parliament was a contributing factor in my deciding to leave the UK. As a Jewish person I feel that I can truly live fully as myself here in the only Jewish state in the world. I do however have beloved close family members and friends still in the UK and I am watching what happens there with the frightening increase in antisemitism, with deep concern.

So I am writing to you today as an Anglo-Israeli and I hope you won’t mind if I have a few points to clarify after your statement today.

You write that you are concerned that too many people have died in the current conflict.

You will have to forgive me but I am more than a little sceptical about the actual numbers that are quoted as deaths in the conflict. I’m sure that you will be aware that all the figures of deaths and casualties that come out of Gaza from the Gazan health ministry are in fact coming from Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organization. You cannot believe them. Unfortunately Hamas tend to lie. These numbers are not independently verified and are most likely pure propaganda. Sadly as we have seen with the involvement of the UN agency UNRWA in the atrocities of the 7th October, even supposedly impartial NGOs operating in the area have their own agendas and cannot be relied on as impartial players.

The actual numbers are questionable but I can definitely agree with you that too many people have died, on both sides, because I remain concerned for every innocent life lost, whether Israeli or Gazan. The Jewish religion values life and peace. These are the values that have underpinned our religion for thousands of years, just as long as we have had our deep connection to Jerusalem and the land of Israel.

Unfortunately I do not believe that Hamas care about civilian deaths, either Israeli or Gazan. Hamas use civilians as human shields, hiding their terrorist infrastructure in schools, hospitals, and homes. It is hard to know where terrorists are when they blur into the civilian population so completely. For Hamas every civilian death is a bonus. Israel is vilified and the leaders of Hamas remain untouched. The fact that Gazan civilians voted Hamas into power further muddies the waters. But innocents dying in war is tragic and a peaceful long term future for everyone, following the removal of Hamas is the ultimate aim. Because there can be no peace while Hamas exists with their declared aim is the destruction of Israel and the death of all Jews. This is what Hamas wants. They keep telling the world and we really need to listen to them. You really can’t make peace with an adversary who only wants you dead. Israelis understand making peace, we have done it many times. We have given up land for peace (unilaterally leaving Gaza in 2005 for example) but it hasn’t yet brought real and lasting peace.

Sadly on the 7th October and afterwards we have seen Hamas and their supporters in Gaza and around the world repeatedly celebrating and justifying the murder, the rape, the mutilation, and the burning of Jewish women, children, seniors, and men. They want to repeat the atrocities of the 7th October again and again. They, like the Nazis before them, want to kill all Jews. I have no desire to die and neither do my fellow Israelis or Jews around the world for that matter. There are only 15 million of us in total. A tiny proportion of the world’s population. Israel is not the huge superpower that we are presented as. We have a strong army because we need it for defence. We cannot afford to lose this or any war. It would mean our obliteration. So we cannot accept an end to this war until the threat to our lives, to our country, is neutralised.

And that brings me to the hostages. Because their return is crucial to the end of this war too.

I am so grateful that you mentioned in your statement the need for the hostages to be returned before any ceasefire can be thought of. So many people seem to have forgotten them. The ongoing captivity of 134 people (a third of whom we know have already died), is an ongoing situation that should disturb any right-minded person. The fact that a baby and a child (just a year younger than your own youngest child), remain as hostages with no sign of life, for the last four months, is horrific. Thank you for reminding the world that the Israeli hostages are still there, and their return is essential to the ending of this conflict.

I was interested that you met with the Red Cross today to ask about the humanitarian aid situation for the Gazan people. The situation on the ground is very troubling. We all agree that humanitarian aid needs to get to the civilians of Gaza but I wonder if the Red Cross were able to reassure you that the aid that is going into Gaza isn’t being taken by Hamas? I was horrified to read recently that a young Gazan boy was killed by Hamas when he tried to access aid supplies.

Medicine was sent in after three months for many of the hostages who have chronic illnesses, but unfortunately the Red Cross doesn’t seem to have been successful in getting the medicine to them. Perhaps they explained why that was?

I don’t work for the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross but Emunah who I have worked for in the UK and now work for here in Israel, is a social welfare charitable organization that is involved with supporting children and families. Currently, of course we are dealing with significant trauma as a result of Hamas’s actions and the war here in Israel. I have also been volunteering to help the thousands of displaced families within Israel who had to flee from their homes because of the rocket attacks from Gaza and from Lebanon. Nobody seems to talk about their humanitarian needs or the trauma that the whole of Israel has experienced following the invasion and massacre that took place on October 7th and the 10,000 rockets that have targeted our civilian population subsequently. If you would be interested to know about the work we are doing, supporting bereaved and traumatised children, seniors and families, and to hear first hand their stories, I would welcome the chance to tell you a little about how things are from the Israeli side, since you heard today from people in the ground in Gaza, and I know that you want to hear from all sides.

I also know that you are hoping to visit a synagogue later this week and I hope that your work to highlight the rise in antisemitism in the UK (and around the world) is successful in bringing about a change for the better, because the current situation is deeply concerning. My great-grandfather was murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz and I never believed that in my lifetime I would see the level of antisemitic hate that makes me say that ‘Never Again is Now’. Jews are frightened and want to know that they are safe in the UK and safe in the world. They want to know that Israel will always be there and that they can live as Jews freely without fear. No Jewish person should have to hide the signs of their faith when travelling to work or school and yet that is the reality in the UK in 2024. Our schools and synagogues have had to have security guards for many years but the current level of fear is unprecedented in my lifetime. You can make a real difference by standing with the Jewish community and showing them that they are not alone. Thank you for doing what you are doing now and in the future to make the UK a place where Jews do not have to live in fear of discrimination, violence and intimidation.

Above all, I hope that your statement is used only for good and I thank you for trying to facilitate a peaceful future for us all. God knows we need all the help we can get.