INTERVIEW: Badenoch calls for visas of non-British university actvists targeting Israeli professor to be revoked

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for the expulsion of pro-Palestine students who disrupted a lecture at a London university due to the speaker’s links to Israel.

In an interview with Jewish News, Badenoch also added that, if the students involved in the demonstrations are not British citizens, their visas should be revoked.

Speaking during a visit to Menorah Primary School in north-west London, Badenoch said a government under her leadership would “look at” the current government’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state.

However, she stopped short of saying she would reverse recognition,  and made it clear: “I believe in a two-state solution, I think many people do, even in the Jewish community.”

Badenoch’s visit came after Michael Ben-Gad, economics professor at City St George’s, University of London, was targeted by masked protesters from a group calling itself City Action for Palestine.

The activists disrupted his lecture, branded him a terrorist, and carried banners calling for the removal of all “Zionists” from the university.

They  added: “Shame on City for … allowing a terrorist to be near and teach Arab and Muslim students despite being an active participant in murdering their people”.

Professor Ben-Gad, a respected academic, was conscripted to serve in the Israel Defence Forces in the 1980s and has faced ongoing protests from pro-Palestine activists at the London university.

Badenoch compared the protesters to “modern-day Brownshirts,” saying, “if you look at what is happening there, it is out and out antisemitism.”

She added, “What we need to see is those students being punished. We need to see expulsions, visas revoked if they’re not from our country.

“So that we send a strong message that behaviour like this will not be tolerated. That’s what will be happening under a Conservative government.”

Badenoch acknowledged that the current government’s recognition of a Palestinian state is unpopular within the Jewish community.

Asked if a future government under her leadership might even reverse this decision she reiterated her support for a two-state solution, and strongly  criticised the timing of Keir Starmer’s decision to recognise Palestine, with Hamas still in control of Gaza.

She said, “One of the things I have said is that this was the wrong time to have the recognition of Palestine. I believe in a two-state solution, I think many people do, even in the Jewish community.

“But doing it at the right time is important. So it is something that we will look at.

“We cannot have recognition of Palestine when Hamas is running it. We do not want to recognise a terrorist state. And that’s what it would be. That’s what it is, effectively.

“And the government should not have done that.”

But she added:”What I’m not going to do is to make policy when I don’t know the circumstances.

“But I think people know how strongly I feel about this issue, how much I disagree with the current Labour government on what they did, and we will do everything in our part to make sure that the British state is not working with a terrorist state.”

During her visit to the primary school, Badenoch observed a Jewish studies lesson and joined a roundtable discussion with community and religious leaders, as well as local councillors.

The discussions, held largely behind closed doors, focused on the impact of antisemitism, pro-Palestine marches, and concerns about the future for Jews in Britain.

Badenoch stressed the importance of supporting the Jewish community: “A lot of politicians are cowards, and even though they may not like what they see, they don’t want to get involved.

“I think it’s really important to show leadership and let people know that there is still some moral clarity in this country.

“This country has always been a welcoming and safe place for Jewish people, among others. It must continue to remain so.”

She expressed concern about “the increase in certain groups of people who want to turn the UK into something that it never has been and is not meant to be,” and condemned protests targeting individuals “simply because of their heritage and their background.”

Badenoch admitted that until two years ago she considered antisemitism “a tiny fringe thing… maybe, you know, like a Jeremy Corbyn type, sort of Marxist.”

But after the October 7 Hamas attacks, she was “really shocked,” saying, “It was like lightning in the darkness that just showed just how bad it was.

“And I think it has increased. Many people have been encouraged to have these views. There’s now more misinformation being pumped out.”

Among those to attend the round-table meeting with her where leaders from Shomrim, the Community Security Trust, the charity Work Avenue, along with local councillors Peter Zinkin and Dean Cohen.

City University had responded to widespread anger of the pro-Palestine demos against the economics professor by telling Jewish News the university “fully supports and upholds freedom of expression within the law” but “the university will not tolerate the harassment of its staff and students”.

A statement added:”We will continue to support and protect our staff and students, including Michael, who has the full support of the university and its senior management team, as well as colleagues of all faiths and backgrounds.”