‘Growing understanding’ by government UK Jews have broad views on Israel, conference told
Hannah Weisfeld, executive director of Yachad, appeared alongside former Tory minister Alistair Burt at a panel event at the Haaretz conference at JW3
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
There is “growing understanding” within the current UK government that the Jewish community in the UK has broad opinions on Israel, a packed conference on the Middle East conflict has been told.
Hannah Weisfeld, executive director of Yachad, told a panel event at the Haaretz conference at JW3 in north London: “There are voices in the Jewish community in this country that wants to see extremists inside Israel maligned and pushed aside.”
Her comments on Sunday came as former Conservative Middle East minister Alistair Burt told the same panel that he believed ex-foreign secretary David Cameron was constrained over possible policy by figures within the Tory Party who had “strong ties to the state of Israel”.
Weisfeld spoke in support of measures taken by Keir Starmer’s government in relation to Israel such as suspending weapons licenses and other sanctions.
She said sanctions should rely on “the principle of the rule of law, and use that lens to guide the decisions.”
Weisfeld said Israel’s ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely represented a clear “problem” for UK politicians, but she added this was only because she was part of “a much bigger problem” in Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government.
The Yachad official added: “I have been in meetings where there are assumptions the government is making, and reminding the government that they shouldn’t be making those assumptions, that they should bring in a broader set of opinions from the Jewish communities.”
Meanwhile Burt, who contributes to the Royal United Security Institute think-tank, said he believed the previous Tory government “made a mistake” by giving Israel “the sense it could do anything on settlements and “give a tick in the box to politicians who thought they could do anything.”
He called “settlement policy” by Israel to “come under greater scrutiny” through the use of further sanctions in the future.
Weisfeld also said Israel’s ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely represented a clear “problem” for UK politicians, but she added this was only because she was part of “a much bigger problem” in Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government.
The panel on the state of UK-Israel relations was Moderated by Haaretz editor-in-chief-Esther Solomon.
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