Many of the conference’s speakers were deeply critical of the Israeli government. ‘How do allies committed to liberal democracy relate to a hard-right Israeli government?’, the blurb asked. ‘Who are the Palestinian partners for building a common future?’

But even this kind of event, it seems, was a step too far for ‘pro-Palestine’ protesters. Outside JW3 – a leading Jewish community centre, where the conference was taking place – attendees were jeered at by activists. In videos posted on X, masked protesters can be seen calling attendees ‘mass murderers’ and demanding that Zionism ‘no longer exist in the Middle East, because Zionism is a racist ideology’.

Footage from the protest shows one elderly woman reduced to tears as she’s shouted at. Another chant that rang out was: ‘There is only one solution, intifada revolution.’ Jews have good reason to fear when, on the streets of a supposedly civilised city, mobs start talking about ‘solutions’ to their existence. It is a testament to Haaretz that it wasn’t cowed by the protesters and the conference carried on.