It would plainly be ludicrous to suggest that the Board of Deputies believes that the IDF set out to murder innocent Palestinians in Gaza.
But there are certainly members of the MCB who believe just that, and the Muslim body is now insisting that the words “targeting of civilians” in the joint statement between it and the Board does indeed include Israel.
For all but the most biased anti-Israel observers, the words clearly — can only — refer to Hamas.
But even if the Board thinks it obvious that the IDF does not target civilians and so no one can interpret the statement that way, in its desire to conjure up this unprecedented joint statement with the MCB, it has made a stupid mistake.
It is naive in the extreme not to have foreseen that the MCB would insist it refers to Israel. And it is simply bizarre to imagine that the MCB, of all bodies, would condemn Hamas.
Those who are arguing that our communal leaders are not fit for the job have now been given even more evidence to support their case.
