All Craig Guildford, former Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, did was make a decision he believed was necessary to protect the British public in Birmingham from violent football hooligans. His "crime"? Among the criticisms levelled at him was "a failure to engage with the local Jewish community." But I have a very simple question: What exactly do Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have to do with the British Jewish community? Maccabi Tel Aviv is an Israeli football club. Its supporters are Israeli football fans. British Jews are not collectively responsible for, nor representative of, Israeli football supporters. If the concern was public safety, then surely the relevant question should have been about the actual behaviour, intelligence and threat posed by the specific group attending the match. Why are British Jews being brought into the equation? And this is where the whole thing starts to feel deeply uncomfortable. We should be able to distinguish between Israeli nationals, an Israeli football club and British Jews without conflating the three. Otherwise, aren't we effectively saying that criticism or policing of Israeli football supporters somehow requires consultation with Britain's Jewish community? That's a very dangerous line to cross. And given the political sensitivities surrounding Israel, the public is perfectly entitled to ask whether this entire affair was really about policing and public safety or whether something much more political is going on.