4,000 people attend Jewish community vigil for Israel in Westminster
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, Security Minister Tom Tugendhat, former Tory leader Sir Ian Duncan Smith and Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey address the crowd along with the Chief Rabbi.
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick pulled no punches when he told a London crowd demonstrating solidarity with Israel: “Let me be clear. Valorising the terrorism of Hamas is a serious criminal offence. Those who engage in it, or indeed any other form of antisemitic attack, must be hunted down , arrested and prosecuted. There can be no tolerance of this hatred and antisemitism in our country.”
And Mr Jenrick pledged that Britain stood with Israel. “Israel will prevail”, he said, “And the UK will do all in its power to ensure that it does”. The “miracle of Israel”, he said, “stands as a shining beacon of hope in a region marked by extremism and fundamentalism”.
Mr Jenrick’s impassioned speech — he said he spoke not just as a government minister but “as the father of a Jewish family” — was greeted with cheers by the crowd, gathered opposite 10 Downing Street and estimated by the police to number around 5,000 strong.
He was just one of an array of politicians across the spectrum — Tom Tugendhat, the Security Minister, the former Conservative leader Sir Ian Duncan Smith, the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey — and the Shadow Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, who had left Labour’s conference in Liverpool to add his voice to the united condemnation of Hamas and its brutality.
The event, co-ordinated by the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council, was opened by Board president and closed by JLC chair Keith Black, who thanked the MPs and noted: “We do not take your presence for granted.”
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and Progressive rabbi Charley Baginsky, former community leader Sir Mick Davis and Israel’s ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely were also on the platform, together with a young Federation of Zionist Youth emissary, Ofri Gubber.
The hour-long rally featured some populist comments, not least condemnation of media outlets, particularly the BBC, which continued to call the Hamas murderers “militants”, rather than “terrorists”.
Ambassador Hotovely praised the “fantastic Zionist Jewish community” of the UK, and laid out the situation in stark terms: “This is a fight between good and evil”, she declared. “And good will prevail”.
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said he had spoken on Monday to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “After his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu, his commitment has only doubled. The United Kingdom has stood against hatred, evil and antisemitism before. We will always stand against hatred, evil and antisemitism.” Like the other speakers, Mr Tugendhat pledged solidarity with Israel and said he mourned the loss of so many lives in the Hamas attacks.
Labour’s David Lammy told the rally that “there was nothing more important” than showing solidarity with Israel. “In this country, it doesn’t matter whether you are Conservative, Liberal Democrat or Labour — we stand with Israel”. And he, like other speakers, called for the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, perhaps seeking to re-balance his party’s message of moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas, as expressed on social media by Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, offered unexpected congratulations to Home Secretary Suella Braverman and London mayor Sadiq Khan for their fight against antisemitism.
And Sir Ian Duncan Smith raised the rhetoric even further when he told the crowd — “we here today are all Jewish, we are all Israelis. We stand with you, because there is no other way.”
A rally also took place on Monday in Brighton while others are planned for Manchester on Wednesday and Scotland later this week.
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