Big Tent for Israel

The Big Tent For Israel was a two day conference held in Manchester, UK, in November 2011, organized in response to a report by the Reut Institute which identified the UK, especially London, as a hub for activities which 'delegitimize' Israel. The event explicitly sought to counter the perceived delegitimization phenomenon. Organizer Rabbi Jonathan Guttentag wrote in the programme:

“We need to fight a war to defend Israel against delegitimisation. We have to raise an army and we have to join that army.”

In a blogpost Eran Shayshon described the event as part of "the emergence of the pro-Israel network" and also mentioned a May 2011 conference We Believe In Israel organised by BICOM in this context. An article in the Jewish Chronicle states BICOM pulled out of any involvement in the The Big Tent for Israel because of disagreements over whether it would carry BICOM's We Believe In Israel branding and the range of speakers invited. However, BICOM's then Chief Executive Lorna Fitzsimons did eventually appear on the list of speakers in the event program.

The Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies of British Jews were reportedly influential in forcing the organizers to broaden the range of invited speakers. The event was attended by between 500-1000 people.

Vivian Wineman, one of the board who eventually selected speakers to invite, is reported to have denied that pro-settler voices were excluded and that two representatives of Likud-Herut UK were invited to speak.

Speakers

Speakers included Eran Shayson one of the authors of the Reut Institute's report 'The Assault on Israel's Legitimacy: London as a Case Study' and, amongst others:

• Daniel Taub
• Alan Mendoza
• Douglas Murray]]
• Eric Moonman
• Harvey Rose
• Ivan Lewis MP
• Jon Benjamin
• Jonathan Hoffman
• Lorna Fitzsimons
• Louise Ellman MP
• Stuart Polak