Time for Prime Minister Brown to take decisive steps as Israeli Deputy FM says relationship with UK “insufferable”
Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon is reported by the Jerusalem Post today as describing the current situation between Britain and Israel as “insufferable”, adding that “normal relations between the two countries” would be difficult to sustain under current circumstances.
Ayalon was referring to the increasingly common practice by Palestinian extremists and their many supporters in the UK of abusing the British legal system to threaten visiting Israeli dignitaries with arrest for alleged war crimes. Former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, it will be recalled, had to cancel a trip to London in December after a court authorised a warrant for her arrest over Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. It has now emerged that a group of IDF officers had to cancel a trip last week for the same reason.
I have written before on the subject of how the demonisation of the Jewish state in Britain and the deeply hostile attitude of the British Foreign Office is harming Britain’s national interests: the abuse of our legal system for political purposes undermines Britain’s commitment to the rule of law; a foreign policy in the Middle East which downgrades relations with Israel in order to sustain relations with oil rich dictatorships constitutes a Munich-era level of grovelling before tyranny which destroys Britain’s moral authority and risks rebounding on us by convincing Islamists that we are weak; matters have now come to such a head that even our short-term foreign policy goal of playing an important role in the peace process is under serious threat.
It is surely time for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to take a lead in putting matters to rights or simply accept that his declaration of undying support for Israel in the Knesset 18 months ago was empty rhetoric and nothing more. He could start by doing the following:
1) Put an end to the de facto legal boycott of Israeli officials by promising to change the law and engaging the parliamentary opposition to ensure that such changes happen as quickly as possible. The government has talked of moving in this direction but has so far failed to take decisive action.
2) Since the process would nonetheless inevitably take time, he should declare that Palestinian officials and any other non-UK citizens who support the abuse of the law against Israelis in this manner be declared persona non grata. This would demonstrate seriousness to Israel while simultaneously providing a disincentive to Palestinian leaders who have been cheerleading such practices.
3) Put an immediate end to facile and counter-productive Foreign Office condemnations of Israeli housing and settlement policy in east Jerusalem and in areas which it can reasonably be expected would become part of Israel in a peace agreement. All serious peace proposals from the Clinton parameters onwards have envisaged land swaps in which most settlements would become Israeli territory. The Foreign Office knows this and should be told to stop contributing to and legitimising anti-Israeli hysteria through pointless posturing.
4) In a similar vein, Gordon Brown should use his influence to lead public opinion by making high-profile, public statements condemning the continuing demonisation of the State of Israel in media and NGO circles as contrary to British values and interests.
5) End all discriminatory measures against Israel from the boycott on members of the Royal Family from making official visits to Israel to the partial arms embargo imposed in response to Operation Cast Lead.
This list could, of course, be expanded upon, refined and honed down. But unless this or something like it is initiated it is hard to see what can now stop the relationship between Britain and Israel from being stretched to breaking point and beyond.
It’s time to draw some lines in the sand and not just because that is right thing to do but because it is in Britain’s own interests to do so, and to do so now.
Tags: Israel
January 5th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Would it really, and I am serious, hurt if Israel demoted all relations, diplomatic and military, with the UK to the lowest operational level possible? I mean on par with any Muslim state that doesn’t refute the existence of Israel for instance? I am sure the UK could survive that, after all, they’ll always have Libya.
January 5th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Thank you, Robin.
January 5th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Thank you for this article. It’s about time the Foreign office was purged of its Lawrence of Arabia wannabees, who are bending over forwards to appease the Arabs. (Probably something to do with their public school education!)
January 6th, 2010 at 5:09 am
Re #3 Andy Gill: I am surprised and gratified that you mention the forced sexual activity in public school education. I am not sure how seriously you took your own comment, but I believe that part of the poor attitude toward Israel stems quite directly from being forced into the victim’s role when barely past childhood and then later into the victimizer’s role as an early adult. Such experiences are so insidious and destructive to the human soul that it prevents integration of emotion and intellectual function. It matters not at all how smart these policy makers are; they are cut off from emotional growth and insight. Without wishing to make an ad hominem attack on all anti-Israeli bureaucrats in Britain, I must say that their positions are so irrational that explanations for their prejudice must be sought within their own psychological structures. When Israel is referred to as shitty little country or is viewed in sadistic or masochistic terms, it is the speaker who requires scrutiny.
January 6th, 2010 at 10:12 am
But then read the comments on the Times article today and you will see how entrenched these anti-Israel feelings are in the UK (and maybe not only here). It’s disheartening. The concensus appears to be that Israel is some tin-pot vassal state that ‘deserves’ opprobriation. Is it a reflection of anti-Semtitism? What is the rationale? Do these people really care about the Palestinian Arabs?
January 6th, 2010 at 11:52 am
Jerry I think you are ignoring the more obvious reasons fo ther anti-Semitism, they share it after all with their Euoropean colleagues and socialist radicals in Latin America, the US and South Africa, the leadership of the Anglican church and people from all walks of life in the Western world, rich, middle class and poor. They learn anti-Semitism from their parents and community, it is passed down from one generation to the next.
Would you blame the pogroms on Jews in York in 1190 and the subsequent expulsions of Jewry in the following centuries from all the numerous English counties on the physical and sexual abuse of the perpetrators including English royalty suffered in the (I assume) then non-existent public schools? What about the experience of Jewry in Europe in the Middle-Ages and the later massacres in Eastern Europe, up to and including the Nazis…abuse suffered at public schools by the guilty parties cannot account for all of those horrors, so why an exception for modern Britain?
as for Brown, Brown is emulating Chamberlain, he’s not gonna change. You may as well expect the sun to rise in the west and set in the east. Brown is a spineless know-nothing who only cares for political power whatever the costs. Brown is as much a part of the problem as the Foreign Office.
January 6th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Great wish list, but Israel relations are highly unlikely to receive any swift government attention after the publication of the Hoon/Hewitt letter. Brown is now so embattled that this urgent matter is, doubtless, near the bottom of his “in” tray.
January 6th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Israel should sever diplomatic relations with Britain immediately.
Pretending that Britain is Israel’s friend is a delusion and the sooner Britain is told so the better.
Israel tries too hard to appease its so called allies. It would send a better message to Britain if it was told they are not allies. Ditto the EU in spades.
January 6th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
“risks rebounding on us by convincing Islamists that we are weak”
I fear it’s too late for that, Robin. When Anjem Choudary baits his BBC interlocutor over the Islamists’ march in Wooton Bassett by asking, “Aren’t I British enough?”, it’s clear what these people think of us in this country.
January 6th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Thank you for this article.
At a time when anti-Israel ideologues around the world are stepping up pressure on the Jewish state, it’s very important that we have countering voices, such as yours.
January 6th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
I don’t believe any of the things on Robin’s list will be implemented by Gordon Brown. The only possible change is the addition of a power of review by the Attorney General’s office as reported this morning, but how long would that take to enact ? I’ll be surprised if anything changes before the election. Mr Brown has enough problems with his backbenchers as things are. Also, would the Labour government do anything to antagonise Muslim voters ?
It’s my view that Britain has nothing to contribute to future peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Over the years the FCO has demonstrated its bias and ignorance, so it’s best kept at arm’s length. Britain is important as a trading partner, so hopefully after the election, normal inter-government relations will be restored.
January 7th, 2010 at 1:29 am
Brown and his Israel hating cronies will be out of office in less than six months - unfortunately the Foreign Office will stay the same.