VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS: Warm words for Israel, but a penny for Sunak’s true thoughts
The prime minister was wise to mention what he mentioned and to not mention what he didn’t in his speech to Conservative Friends of Israel this week.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s speech to Conservative Friends of Israel this week was just the tonic for those worried that Israel’s current political direction has been creating space between the two countries’ governments.
Indeed, it was so full of warmth and bonhomie – hailing the Jewish state’s “remarkable achievements” and recognising its “unenviable security challenge” – that it brought back memories of Donald Trump’s unabashed support for Israel.
It struck all the right chords, including restating the UK’s commitment to “utilising the full range of tools at our disposal” to protect UK citizens from Iran, and committing to complete a free-entry Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre next to parliament.
Like a hot water bottle on a snowy night, it was just the ticket.
But as those of us who support Israel and follow its progress will know, all is not well in the Holy Land. Sunak’s tick-boxing sweets, alas, were laced with a sour reality.
For UK readers, the balance of power between the executive, the judiciary, and the legislature (i.e. the government, the courts, and the parliament) is second-nature and hard-wired. For hundreds of years, it has been as much a part of our democracy as people’s rights to assembly, elections, and free speech.
Israel’s state systems, by contrast, are much younger, much less established, and much less baked-in. As such, they are more susceptible to attack. Unfortunately, that is what many feel is happening right now.
Exhibit A: This week, Israeli lawmakers are voting to give Itamar Ben-Gvir – a man who has faced dozens of charges of hate speech against Arabs – greatly expanded powers over both the police and the police commissioner.
Outgoing Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev, a former special forces soldier and centrist politician, called the change “unhinged”, adding: “It will subject the police completely to politicians’ control, turning them into a puppet on a string.”
What could Ben-Gvir do with his new powers? Imagine if he wanted to inflame tension (not that he would…), he could order ten police cars be deployed to a certain place, even if the commissioner – a professional – deemed it unnecessary. It isn’t hard to see how an ideological flame-thrower could easily torch a situation.
Israel’s state systems are much younger than ours, much less established, and much less baked-in. As such, they are more susceptible to attack.
There’s more. Laws are being changed to allow a strictly-Orthodox politician (Aryeh Deri, who served time in jail 20 years ago) to serve once again as a minister, despite him having been convicted last year of tax offences.
The rule of law, you say?
Perhaps the most ominous legislative change being enacted by the new religious-nationalist government concerns the administration of the West Bank. Indeed, it is a change to the Basic Law, which effectively forms Israel’s constitution.
Parliamentarians are moving control over the Civil Administration in the West Bank and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) from the Ministry of Defence to none other than Bezalel Smotrich.
British Jews – and this newspaper – want to see the UK and Israel in lockstep on issues of mutual importance
A settler and far-right leader, Smotrich founded Regavim, an organisation that laments the “hostile takeover of [West Bank] territory” by Palestinians and uses lawfare to demolish Bedouin villages. It says it wants “to protect Jewish lands and natural resources and to prevent an alien takeover”.
Putting Smotrich in charge, what could possibly go wrong?
Finally, if all that wasn’t bad enough, Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies are preparing to pass legislation that will effectively annul the Supreme Court’s supervision of legislation that could be deemed unconstitutional. Because who needs a backstop anyway.
Sunak was wise to mention what he mentioned and to not mention what he didn’t. British Jews – and this newspaper – want to see the UK and Israel in lockstep. We greatly value the support that Israel gets from Downing Street. But we also worry about the changing nature of the State of Israel.
So might Mr Sunak. A penny for his (true) thoughts.
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