Rabbi Leo Dee, a British citizen whose wife and two daughters were killed in a terrorist attack in the West Bank, has accused the British government of hypocrisy for sanctioning products from Israeli settlements while overlooking the Palestinian Authority's "pay-for-slay" system. The policy reportedly provides lifelong financial rewards to the families of Palestinian terrorists.
Dee, 54, stated that his wife Lucy, 48, and daughters Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in April 2023. He argued that the British government's decision to boycott goods from Israeli settlements, a move aimed at the controversial E1 settlement project, disproportionately targets "Jewish Israelis like me" and constitutes an economic punishment. He contrasted this with the government's inaction regarding the Palestinian Authority's payments to the families of terrorists.
"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," Dee wrote, addressing concerns about British policies. "Yet your moral outrage is directed not at those institutions, but at Jewish businesses in Judea and Samaria."
Dee's intervention follows a warning from Britain's Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, who condemned Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband's trade restrictions on Israeli settlements. Mirvis accused Miliband of fueling anti-Israel rhetoric that could endanger Jewish people. Miliband, however, stated he disagreed with the Chief Rabbi, identifying himself as a "proud British Jew."
The attack that killed Lucy, Maia, and Rina occurred while they were on holiday. Rabbi Dee has since remarried and has three surviving children. He challenged Andy Burnham, suggesting he would debate him on the principled nature of the policy if it were not discriminatory.
Dee emphasized what he described as a crucial moral distinction between deaths resulting from terrorist attacks and security operations, and a government system that financially rewards convicted terrorists and their families. He referenced the late Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, who posited that while criticizing or boycotting Israel is not inherently antisemitic, singling out Israel for standards applied to no other country could be.