Ultra orthodox Israelis in Jerusalem (Photo: AP)
Benedict Brogan is the Daily Telegraph's Deputy Editor. His blog brings you news, gossip, analysis and occasional insight into politics, and more. You can find his weekly columns here and you can email him atbenedict.brogan@telegraph.co.uk.
His belief in Israel, David Cameron announced last week, is indestructible. This statement of bomb-proof support was made at the annual dinner of the Community Security Trust, a group that tracks anti-semitism in Britain and provides security for organisations considered at risk of attack.
The CST’s most recent report found that 2010 was another year for marked aggression against Judaism in Britain. Most Jewish schools, it is depressing to note, now require round-the-clock security. “I will always be a strong defender of the Jewish people. I will always be an advocate for the state of Israel,” the Prime Minister said.
So why, then, is Israel so uneasy about Britain? What is it that prompted Benjamin Netanyahu to tell The Daily Telegraph, just days before Mr Cameron spoke, that he is “worried” about this country? Why, when our Prime Minister speaks of his “indestructible” support, did Mr Netanyahu raise the “huge issue” of the decline in backing for Israel in the West and notably in the UK?
The truth is that relations between Jerusalem and London are bad, drifting to worse. British diplomacy has lost interest in Israel as an interlocutor; Israel, in turn, is increasingly of the view that the UK has turned from an indestructible ally into a gullible host for the global campaign to undermine its legitimacy. At a time when the affairs of the Middle East should preoccupy us all, Britain gives the impression of being indifferent to the concerns of a country that is not just the only democracy in the neighbourhood, but also one of our paramount allies in the fight against militant Islamism that Mr Cameron professes to consider a priority.
It is too easy to miss the importance that Britain, and London in particular, has acquired in the insidious campaign that is patiently hacking away at the global foundations of Israel’s existence. Dressed up in modish arguments about human rights, there has been an inexorable rebranding of Israel as an oppressive colonial power. Those who peddle this idea are happy to let the unspoken implication eat its way into the public consciousness: colonial powers eventually have to pack up and leave.
Mr Cameron is not the first premier to laud the reach of the English language and the clout it gives us in a globalised world. What he does not mention is that English is being used to spread the “de‑legitimisation” argument, and we are providing the megaphone. Together, the BBC and the internet act as an echo chamber for a coalition of religious and political campaign groups and academics of all stripes – some of them Jewish – pumping out a propaganda campaign of explicit and implicit hostility to Israel. No other country has a media with a global reach to match that of the UK, and yet the overwhelming message that it sends around the world is that Israel is the cuckoo in the nest, the obstacle to peace and prosperity in the Arab world.
That there exists a vocal, influential and organised claque against Israel is nothing new. On the Left, there has long been an appetite for a narrative that pits ruthless bourgeois oppressor against downtrodden people. Except in this case, the narrative has been perverted. The persecuted minority – the Jews – has been turned into the steel-booted oppressor.
The creation of a democratic and prosperous homeland for the Jews has always stuck in the throat of those on the Left who like their prejudices raw. How could a people that have faced arguably far greater and longer-lasting prejudice than any other on earth, have been so successful? The rowdy, cantankerous democracy that is Israel – with its emphasis on faith, hard work, family values, equal rights and the cherishing of education – stands as a perpetual reproach to all the tropes about oppressed people being powerless to shape their destiny.
Israel’s opponents have adapted their critiques of empire and colonialism to include the Jewish state. The London School of Economics, for example, offers courses on Israeli colonialism. London acts as home-in-exile to the brains of the Muslim Brotherhood, who can go about their business of sponsoring the deadly work of Hamas unmolested, and now work on activating their networks in Egypt and Tunisia ahead of elections that will give them a hold on power. A recent paper by the Israeli academic Ehud Rosen, detailing Britain’s place as the engine room of the global campaign to deny Israel’s right to exist, should be required reading for ministers. Ron Prosor, Israel’s astute and soon-to-depart ambassador to London, recently warned that the undermining of Israel even reaches “back to Her Majesty’s Government”, though he notes the personal commitment not just of Mr Cameron but also of significant figures such as Michael Gove and George Osborne.
The de-legitimisation lobby existed long before the Coalition, but there are specific complaints about this Government that explain why tension prevails where none should exist. William Hague, in enough trouble this week for his inexplicable decision to make public his uncertainty about being Foreign Secretary, has made no secret of his frustration with Israel. He returned from his difficult first visit last year furious at the way he was treated and has yet to calm down. Diplomats blame this for his foot-dragging over amending the law on universal jurisdiction, which makes Israeli political and military figures wary of visiting the UK for fear of arrest on trumped-up war crimes charges. But they also point out that some in the FCO see Israel as an obstacle both to trade deals in the Gulf and to the Middle East peace process. FCO policy centres on the belief that all problems in the region can be traced back to Israel’s failure to back down over its settlements, so much so that the Government was willing to break with America and vote for a UN resolution critical of Israel last year. Yet demonstrators from Oman to Morocco are patently angry not about Israel’s settlements policy but about the absence of democratic and economic opportunities in their own countries.
There are areas of optimism. Britain is deeply involved in efforts to stymie Iran’s nuclear ambitions. But with Lebanon taken over by Hizbollah, Gaza in the hands of Hamas, Egypt on the turn, Jordan teetering, and Iranian ships operating in the Med, the existential threat Iran poses to Israel is now more than ever a threat to us all. “We are you and you are us,” Mr Netanyahu told the Telegraph. In 2008, Gordon Brown became the first British prime minister to address the Knesset and, in perhaps his greatest speech, described how “Britain is your true friend. A friend in difficult times as well as in good times; a friend who will stand beside you whenever your peace, your stability and your existence are under threat; a friend who shares an unbreakable partnership based on shared values of liberty, democracy and justice. And to those who mistakenly and outrageously call for the end of Israel, let the message be: Britain will always stand firmly by Israel’s side.”
It seems that Mr Netanyahu is unlikely to visit the UK this year. And I am told that there are no plans for Mr Cameron to visit Israel. Yet it is more essential than ever that the relationship between the two countries be strengthened, rather than be allowed to weaken. For once, next year in Jerusalem is not good enough. The Prime Minister should find a reason to visit his friends and tell them, face to face, why our links are indestructible.
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