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A Brexit protocol is making life for Belfast Jews increasingly untenable.
By Pesach Benson, United with Israel
A Northern Ireland lawmaker accused the European Union of using Brexit paperwork to block the import of kosher food on Monday.
Brandon Lewis, the MP for Great Yarmouth was on Sky News discussing allegations of antisemitism in the British civil service when he leveled the charge against the EU.
“Where I saw anything against the Jewish community it was coming from the EU who were trying to block the Jewish community of Northern Ireland from getting access to kosher products,” Lewis told presenter Niall Paterson.
Last year, outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a Brexit protocol intended to prevent a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland could cause the collapse of the Belfast Jewish community.
Some 50-100 Jews live in Northern Ireland, all in Belfast.
Under the terms of Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol, although Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, the territory will remain in the European Union’s single market for goods and services. Goods, including kosher food, traveling between the UK and Northern Ireland will be subjected to new regulations for compliance with EU standards.
A grace period delaying the protocol’s regulations was suspended for political reasons.
The alternative to the protocol would be a hard border of fences and checkpoints between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. But that would violate the 1988 Good Friday agreement which ended the Irish conflict.
The chairman of the Belfast Jewish community, Michael Black, has warned that the costs of the new regulatory requirements would make it impractical for importers to deal in the comparatively small amounts of kosher food needed.
In October, the Jewish Chronicle reported that Belfast Jews were already facing a shortage of kosher meat.
The Republic of Ireland, which has a Jewish community of around 2,500, also imports its kosher food from Britain.
According to RTE, Ireland’s national broadcaster, the post-Brexit issues also made it very difficult for Belfast Jews to acquire arbah minim, the four species of plants waved during the Sukkot holiday.
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