Duvi Honig is Founder & CEO, Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce
Britain is preparing to punish Jews in Judea and Samaria with boycotts, trade restrictions and sanctions on companies connected to building Jewish homes. Before Britain lectures Jews about where they may live, it needs to answer for what happened the last time it held direct responsibility for Jewish homes - in Hebron.
In August 1929, Britain governed the land that is now Israel and Jordan and controlled its security apparatus. The Jews of Hebron saw danger and incitement against them increasing and repeatedly warned the authorities, begging for protection as violence began to erupt. Testimony written at the time recorded that Jews were attacked, stones were thrown at Jewish homes, a yeshiva student was killed, and armed Arabs were moving through the area. Jewish leaders kept appealing to the authorities and were reassured that protection was in place.
Then came the massacre.
Sixty-seven Jews were murdered. Barbarically. Families were slaughtered, yeshiva students were killed, women were tortured, synagogues were desecrated, and an ancient Jewish community was shattered. The Arabs who had been their neighbors for years participated. The Jewish druggist who helped everyone was murdered in cold blood. During the massacre, frightened Jewish boys ran to mounted police serving the British government, held on to their horses and begged to be rescued. Eyewitness testimony records that they were pushed away rudely as the British left. The British, who could easily have dispersed the rioting Arabs, stayed far away.
That happened under British rule, while Britain bore responsibility for security and for the protection of the population under its authority. The Jews warned Britain, pleaded for protection, and were catastrophically failed.
There was also the massacre of 78 Jews in broad daylight in April,1948, when a convoy of doctors and medical personnel headed to Hadassah Mt. Scopus hospital were mowed down on a street populated by wealthy Arab homeowners, while a cordon of British soldiers prevented the Haganah from coming to their aid.
That history is impossible to separate from what Britain is doing now.
October 7 brought another massacre of Jews. Families were murdered, homes were burned, women were sexually assaulted, and children, elderly people and civilians were kidnapped as terrorists entered Jewish communities for the purpose of slaughtering Israelis.
Britain saw what happened, as did the entire world. Yet now Britain is moving toward economic measures aimed at Jews living in Judea and Samaria, including restrictions on goods from those communities and sanctions against companies building Jewish homes.
These are communities that have faced shootings, stabbings, terrorism, riots and murderous attacks. Israeli security exists there precisely because Jews know what can happen when their defenses fail and violent attackers reach their homes.
That is why this policy is so morally inverted. Jews defend themselves and Britain responds with punishment. Jews build homes and Britain answers with boycotts. Jews refuse to be driven out by terror, and Britain treats their continued presence as the problem.
What message does that send to Hamas? Massacre Jews, kidnap Jews, terrorize Jewish communities, wait for the outrage to fade, and eventually international pressure will turn against Israel.
Britain can say that it condemns Hamas, but actions matter more than speeches. If the aftermath of a massacre is increased pressure on Israel, sanctions on Jewish communities and boycotts against Jews, terrorism is being rewarded with political leverage.
October 7 should have produced the opposite result. Those who massacre Jews should lose militarily, politically, diplomatically and economically. Instead, Britain is threatening economic warfare against Jews.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is right to say that the British Mandate is over. Britain no longer governs Hebron, Jerusalem, Judea or Samaria. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has already warned that Israel will respond if Britain moves forward, and a sovereign Jewish state should not sit quietly while another government decides where Jews may live.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has also turned Britain’s argument back toward London, saying that if Britain wants to sanction Israel over disputed territory, Israel should recognize Argentina’s claim over the Falkland Islands and sanction Britain. Argentine President Javier Milei amplified that message.
The warning is also coming from America. Congressman Randy Fine has said British companies participating in such a boycott could face consequences under Florida’s anti-boycott laws and potentially lose access to government business. That is appropriate. If Britain chooses economic warfare, it should understand that economic consequences can move in both directions.
Britain’s own Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, has strongly urged the government to reconsider. But the Muslim electorate wants blood.
This, however, is bigger than one boycott.
Britain must finally answer for Hebron. There should be a serious historical and legal examination of what British authorities knew, what warnings they received, what protection the Jews requested, what failed, and what responsibility Britain carried as the governing power.
Israel and Jewish organizations should examine every legitimate international legal avenue available, including whether the matter can be brought before an international court or another appropriate international legal forum. Britain constantly demands accountability from Israel; it must be prepared to face accountability itself.
Hebron should not remain buried in the history books simply because nearly a century has passed. The record should be examined internationally, responsibility should be established, and Britain should be forced to answer for what happened under its rule. The Mt. Scopus massacre was almost 40 years later.
That demand becomes even more urgent now, when Britain is once again using governmental power against Jews after October 7 instead of making sure that those who massacre Jews pay the price.
Hebron, Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria did not become Jewish in 1967. They are woven into the Torah, Jewish prayer and thousands of years of Jewish history. Hebron is where Abraham purchased the Cave of the Patriarchs.
The Jewish state exists because Jews learned the hard way that they cannot always depend on foreign governments to protect them. Hebron taught that lesson. October 7 taught it again.
Jews will not accept being massacred when defenseless and punished when they defend themselves.
Britain must answer for Hebron, and it must answer for what it is doing now. Where a legitimate legal path exists, Britain should be held accountable at the international level and before an international court.