In 1650, Menasseh ben Israel published Spes Israelis, The Hope of Israel, which he dedicated to Oliver Cromwell. In 1655, ben Israel formally presented his petition to the Council of State. This document asked for Jews to return as ordinary citizens. He pled for a public synagogue, the right to Jewish education, religious toleration and a cemetery.
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The Humble Petition of the Hebrews at Present
A Short Demurrer to the Jewes
Some saw Jewish religious practice as a subversion of Christian values and a danger to Christianity. The parliamentarian, lawyer and polemicist William Prynne, a rabid Puritan, exemplified this view, with his virulent anti-Jewish pamphleteering. Prynne was one of those who sought to influence the Whitehall Conference with his vociferous opposition to re-admittance.
