Liberal Judaism and LJY-Netzer share the concern of so many in the British Jewish community for the future of Israel’s government following the 1 November election.

The Religious Zionism Party of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir ran a campaign that proudly displayed its racist, misogynist and homophobic views, as the Jewish News so clearly highlighted last week.

These views run counter to the most basic Jewish values, for we learn in Genesis 1:27 that “all human beings are created in the divine image”.

As proudly Progressive Zionist movements, we are deeply saddened that almost 1 in 7 Jewish Israeli voters nonetheless cast their ballot for the Religious Zionism Party.

We call on the leaders of the two largest parties, Binyamin Netanyahu and Yair Lapid, to reject the anti-democratic views of the Religious Zionism Party and not include them in any government coalition that they might be negotiating.

We hope that in the coming weeks of negotiations, Israeli politicians will remember the vision of Israel’s founders to develop the land for the benefit of all its inhabitants, and to implement the prophetic ideals of liberty and justice.