My email to the NASUWT

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to formally give notice of my immediate resignation as a member of the NASUWT.

One of the reasons I joined the union many years ago was because I was impressed by your even-handed policies regarding Israel and Palestine. 

As a proud Jew and Zionist, I cannot and will not be party to any organisation that can put out a statement on 6th January 2026 that falsely and maliciously accuses Israel, a country that I love and admire of Genocide. 

As you will no doubt be aware, the then Foreign Secretary, David Lammy categorically concluded and stated on 11th September 2025 that there has been no genocide in Gaza. 

In Israel, I met with numerous reliable and respected sources on the ground including journalists, doctors and senior military personnel who confirmed this fact. Yet, you persisted in putting out this pernicious and vexatious statement which perpetuate lies emanating from Hamas, the perpetrators of the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The UNHCR published a report on 27th May 2024 (https://www.un.org/unispal/document/coi-report-a-hrc-56-26-27may24/) stating the following (Part iv. articles 5, 6, 9 and 10):

5. In relation to the attack of 7 October in Israel, the Commission concludes on reasonable grounds that members of the military wings of Hamas and of other Palestinian armed groups, as well as Palestinian civilians who were directly participating in the hostilities, deliberately killed, injured, mistreated, took hostages and committed SGBV against: civilians, including Israeli citizens and foreign nationals; and members of the ISF, including soldiers considered hors de combat, in many locations in southern Israel. These actions constitute war crimes and violations and abuses of IHL and IHRL.

6. The Commission concludes that civilians were intentionally targeted, that the attack was premeditated and planned over a significant period, reflecting a high degree of organisation and coordination, and implemented in several locations at or about the same time. The attacks were led and coordinated by Hamas and implemented by the military wings of Hamas and six other Palestinian factions, with the participation of some Palestinian civilians.

9. The Commission concludes that members of the military wing of Hamas and Palestinian armed groups targeted women, including by wilful killings, abductions, and physical, mental and sexual abuse. These crimes were deliberate and, in several cases, enforced with violence, intentionally causing great suffering and serious injury to the victims. The Commission particularly notes that women were subjected to GBV during the course of their execution or Women and women’s bodies were used as victory trophies by male perpetrators and the abduction, violence and humiliation of women, were put on public display, either on the streets of the Gaza Strip or online.

10. The Commission identified patterns indicative of sexual violence in several locations and concludes that Israeli women were disproportionally subjected to these crimes. The attack on 7 October enabled perpetrators to commit SGBV and this violence was not isolated but perpetrated in similar ways in several locations and by multiple Palestinian perpetrators. 

This is the self-same organisation that NGOs, the media and other interested parties use as their main source of information and upon which, no doubt, you have based your statement.

Additionally, I was appalled to read that last month you passed a private motion on boycotting companies tied to Israeli settlements without prioritising this for debate at conference. I was led to believe that the NASUWT operated in a democratic manner that considered the views of all its members. I fail to understand why such a motion would not have been prioritised for debate at conference. If you really wish to canvas wide opinion, why act in such a secretive manner?

This comes at a time when Jewish children in non-Jewish schools are facing constant antisemitic harassment from fellow students, without schools engaging in wide-ranging education to provide a balanced and nuanced approach to the complicated situation in Israel and Gaza following the Hamas attacks on 7th October 2023 which led to the savage murder, rape and torture of over 1200 people and   kidnapping of 251 into Gaza including babies and children. A number of these, such as the Bibas family were murdered by Hamas during their captivity. 

I am therefore appalled that the NASUWT which claims to represent all its members has acted in such a reckless manner.

You were established to further and protect the rights of teachers and those involved in the teaching profession and not to perpetuate a false narrative that serves to create a tension which promotes racist and antisemitic attitudes and behaviour towards Jewish members of the teaching profession and crucially Jewish children. 

This is not a union that I wish to be part of. 

Kindly rescind my membership as of immediate effect and I will cancel my Direct Debit forthwith. 

Yours sincerely

Rabbi Claude Vecht-Wolf.