Prime Minister visits Finchley Synagogue

5:41pm Tuesday 13th May 2008

It is not every night a seat at the Finchley Synagogue in Kinloss Gardens is the hottest ticket in town, but Wednesday evening proved to be one of those occasions.

Security was tight, as you would expect for an evening with the Prime Minister. Barnet's boys in blue joined forces with the Community Security Trust, to ensure the event passed off without incident.

Security plans had suffered a blow earlier when, ironically, Gordon Brown had let slip at question time that he was looking forward to attending the event.

Some commentators feared he would be forced to cancel the engagement after making such a public declaration of his intentions, but right on time on Wednesday night his Jaguar parted traffic sat on the congested lanes of the North Circular Road, and delivered the Prime Minister to the door of the synagogue.

Once inside, Mr Brown spoke to an audience of 1,300 select members of the Jewish community about his personal affinity with the plight of Israel.

"My family has a long and sustained interest in Israel, and respect for your remarkable achievements, your great sufferings and your strong ideals," he said.

"You may ask why it is that a young primary school child, brought up as I was in a mining town in Scotland in the 1950s, came to feel a huge attachment to the trials, tribulations and achievements of Israel.

"And the reason is that my father learned Hebrew, supported the attainment of the State of Israel in 1948, and for decades was a member of the Church of Scotland's Church and Israel Committee.

"From our home in Scotland, he became a regular visitor to Israel, at least once or twice a year for many decades."

Mr Brown described the Holocaust as "the greatest crime ever committed against humanity" and praised the state of Israel for confronting "hatred and its evil work".

"The British Jewish community has such a long and distinguished history in not only building our country, but helping to establish Israel to help it ensure peace and security," he added.

"Yet there is a sense that 60 years has been fraught with difficulties and challenges. Let me remind you of a British story that the first 500 years of any institution is always the most difficult."

In the audience were regular members of the synagogue's congregation and several Zionist organisations which gather each year to commemorate the creation of Israel.

The event was organised by the United Synagogue, an organisation which works to bring the Jewish community together, and the Jewish youth movement Benei Akiva.

Mr Brown said: "Israel is, above all, a nation that has been built on the passion for education and the determination to empower its young people to go out and change the world.

"It is a particular pleasure to see so many members of your wonderful youth movements here. I applaud them for all the work they do for this community and for Israel too."

Rabbi Ephraim Mirvus, of the Finchley Synagogue, said: "This is the premier synagogue in our area so it was the natural choice for a service of this kind. This year it was extra special because of the 60th anniversary."

He said Mr Brown's affinity with Israel was widely recognised and that his speech was "very well received".

He echoed the Prime Minister's sentiments on the future of Israel.

"We very much hope for peace and security," he said.