horrific scenes, scenes of devastation to civilian population, scenes which one would rather have hoped to have disappeared with the Nazi regimes of the last war, you may have felt anger and been absolutely appalled by them, but you must put that emotion aside." Verdicts Five of the activists were found not guilty by the jury on 30 June. The remaining two, Osmond and Smith, were acquitted (by jury) two days later. Reaction The judge's comments were criticised by Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor who said: "This is not a great era for the British justice system. I assume that Sderot's children, who have lived under thousands of missiles for years, will be able to enlighten the judge as to the meaning of 'hell on earth.'" A statement form the Board of Deputies said: "The acquittal was clearly a result of the skewed narrative around Cast Lead, the judge's comments and the appearance of the local MP, who is known for her anti-Israel bias." The Zionist Federation released a statement calling for the government to censure Judge Bathurst-Norman. The defendants' solicitor said: "We're delighted at the result. I think it sends a clear indication that sometimes direct action is the only option when all other avenues have failed." On 15 July 2010 the Jewish Chronicle published a full transcript of the judge's final summing up of the evidence, and reported that the Zionist Federation were calling for a mistrial. Jonathan Hoffman, vice-chair of the latter, argued that "Judge Bathurst-Norman behaved more like the defence counsel than the neutral officer of the court that he was supposed to be. The role of a judge – far from advancing his own political agenda – is to clarify points of law to the lay members of the jury... [his] comments reveal that he has an extreme anti-Israel agenda." British journalist and social commentator Robin Shepherd called the case an "extraordinary moment in modern British legal history" and that: “Bigotry against the Jewish state is now so entrenched in contemporary British society that juries have begun to acquit criminals merely if they can show that they acted against Israeli interests. No other defence is necessary.” Regular Spectator columnist, Melanie Phillips sharply criticized the judge and suggested his politics and bias were factors in his statements to the jury. Phillips noted that he had once stated that "The trouble is, if you go on for political