The Jewish chaplain at Leeds University who was forced into hiding after receiving death threats has revealed that he felt abandoned by Leeds University in his hour of need.
Rabbi Zecharia Deutsch, his wife, Nava, and their two children fled Leeds on police advice following death threats over his role as a reservist in the Israel Defense Force. The family have since left the country.
Speaking for the first time since the story erupted, Zecharia and Navasaid they felt deserted by the university.
As chaplains, Zecharia and Nava were treated as honorary staff members at Leeds. They had a university email address and library, internet and printer access. When Zecharia came home from Israel, he told the Timesthat those privileges were gone.
“I lost access to my university email account. I wasn’t able to print any more. I didn’t have internet access at the university. They said the reason for this change was due to security concerns that didn’t enable them to give us what we needed. We think they could have done more to work around that,” said Zecharia.
“We raised these issues countless times,” he added. “In truth we never got a real answer. It definitely made it harder for us to do our job.”
When the couple sought to be involved in a Jewish campus event after Zecharia’s return from reservist duty, the university suggested the couple should not attend the event.
While there was some contact from the university in discussions about the couple's safety, they told the Times that no one from the university had been in touch to express any personal concern.
“We are surprised that on a personal note they didn’t reach out to us. Absolutely nothing. These are people we worked with for three years. These people are leaders, but this whole time, no one took responsibility,” said Nava.
“I feel like people in authority are scared and intimidated. I would expect them to have more backbone,” she added.
Zecharia said: “It would have been easier for the university if the whole thing hadn’t happened, but this is the world we live in.
“I’d rather October 7 hadn’t happened, but it did, so I went, and I came back. They might be happy I’m going to leave, but some of the problems that have arisen here will remain.”
When news spread that the Leeds chaplain had served in Gaza on reservist duty, he was targeted by hundreds of hate messages. During one night of abuse directed towards the couple, around 400 calls and messages came in.
“Tell that Jewish son of a bitch we’re coming for him,” said one male caller. Another said: “We’re coming to his house and we’re going to kill him, and you as well you f***ing racist bitch. Stupid little slag.”
“You killed innocent Muslims, and they’re going to get you. I promise you now, we’re going to get you, I’m going to get you. We’re going to follow you home from Leeds, you and your wife, and we’re going to do the f***ing same as you’ve been doing in Israel. Us Muslims are going to come for you, you dirty Zionist motherf***er.”
The written messages included: “On way now u dirty whor*,” “Gonna bend y over and f*** u up ya daft immigrant bitch. 15 min away tell your husband to get ready, f***ing immigrants.” Others were more sexually graphic.
The couple rang the police. Nava told the Times that a police officer “had tears in her eyes... She said she’d never seen such disgusting messages.”
West Yorkshire police suggested the family left Leeds in the wake of the initial wave of abuse. The family visited friends in Nottingham for a weekend.
“It was scary. They were threatening my wife and children. There’s no real way to protect yourself here,” said Zecharia.
When the couple returned to Leeds after the weekend, they had a night guard and a personal protection officer, paid for by the Jewish community.
The campus’ Jewish centre, Hillel House, was graffitied by anti-Israel activists.
West Yorkshire police arrested three people in relation to the hate directed towards the family. The suspects were released on bail and, although the investigation is continuing, no charges have been made.
A spokesperson for the universitysaid: “The University of Leeds remains deeply saddened at, and continues to condemn, the public threats that were made to the safety of Rabbi Zecharia and Nava Deutsch. We are grateful for the support they have provided to Jewish students at Leeds and universities across the Yorkshire region.
“Following completion of their time here, we continue to work with the national University Jewish Chaplaincy to ensure that it can continue to provide the support which is so valued by our Jewish students.”
