The article, Pergrina and 
MrsR so hope she gets back soon.
The implications of the political scandal which cost Priti Patel her ministerial career will have a devastating impact on British Jewry, senior figures have predicted.
Communal representatives and pro-Israel activists believe the affair will bolster antisemitic conspiracy theories and damage relationships with British politicians for a generation.
One senior communal figure said: “This will set us back 20 years.”
Ms Patel resigned on Wednesday night. Earlier that day, the JC reported a version of events directly at odds with the official line put forward by Downing Street. According to the JC’s sources, Theresa May knew about Ms Patel’s meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu well before last week — and Number 10 asked Ms Patel to leave out details of a meeting with an Israeli official from a statement issued on Monday.
But the involvement of Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) and its honorary president, Lord Polak, in the affair has led to worries that Israel and the Jewish community could be blamed for future ministerial failings, political scandals and government errors.
One Jewish MP said: “This will feed into the conspiracy theories. It needn’t damage UK-Israel relations, but it will make many people more wary.
“I really don’t know whether CFI and Lord Polak will be badly affected by it, but it’s obviously undermining. It’s certainly not good news for the Jewish and pro-Israel communities.
In reality it’s about a minister not following the ministerial code — it wasn’t against the national interest, but it’s very serious
CFI is the largest such group in Westminster with an open line to almost every Tory MP, dozens of other countries’ diplomatic and political groups, and influence in Downing Street for decades.
But one senior communal figure said CFI would now be regarded as “toxic”.
One Jewish Westminster source played down the Israel aspect, saying: “This isn’t about an ‘Israel lobby’, it’s about people not running meetings by the book. But it is a bit of a feeding frenzy for people with an agenda
Another warned that CFI would be helped by “a bit of circumspection and humility” and by “being a bit more careful about perception
A leading pro-Israel Tory MP said it was clear that the fall-out from the Patel affair would undermine CFI’s “reputation and good work”, although another communal source said they expected the group’s reputation to be “damaged” but with a “recovery” possible in the future
A greater concern, they added, was the prospect of the Conservative government’s demise and the potential for Jeremy Corbyn to enter Number 10
The Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council did not comment on this week’s events.
Ms Patel’s resignation on Wednesday evening came after almost a week of claim and counter-claim over who knew what and when about the International Development Secretary’s meetings in Israel during the summer.
When James Landale, the BBC diplomatic correspondent, first reported concerns about Ms Patel’s meetings last Thursday night — the night of the main Balfour centenary dinner — it was said that she had broken away from a family holiday in Israel to conduct the meetings, accompanied by Lord Polak.
The peer told the BBC last week the pair had “met up for one or two things” while being on holiday at the same time. “I just joined her for a couple of days, some drinks, some dinner, that kind of thing,” he said.