Speaking at a press conference last week in which he announced sanctions against Israel, Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, bemoaned not having any nuclear weapons – because it meant he couldn’t use them to threaten Israel.
It’s certainly true that neither Sir Keir Starmer nor any member of the British Government has yet threatened the Israelis with nuclear apocalypse.
But every week brings another example of how, under Labour, Israel is now being treated as an enemy state. Today we learn that the Royal College of Defence Studies will no longer accept students from Israel, the first time it has barred Israelis since that nation’s creation in 1948.
As Amir Baram, the director general of Israel’s defence ministry (who studied at the college) put it in a letter to the Ministry of Defence, the ban on Israelis is “a profoundly dishonourable act of disloyalty to an ally at war” and a “disgraceful break with Britain’s proud tradition of tolerance – and plain decency”.
For decades Israel has been a key ally of the UK and vice versa. Our military cooperation has been intense, to the huge benefit of both nations, and Israeli intelligence has been pivotal in preventing terror attacks here. But while no formal announcement has been made, it is clear that the Government has decided from day one that those decades as allies are now over.
From the very beginning of its time in office it has treated Israel not as an ally fighting a proxy war on behalf of the West to defeat Islamist terror, but as a rogue state to be punished. Within weeks it restored UK taxpayer funding to Unrwa, the UN aid body some of whose employees were reportedly found to have taken part in the October 7 2023 Hamas massacre; it blocked the export of some arms to Israel; and it backed the ICC’s arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli defence minister.
And, most perniciously, in July Sir Keir Starmer pledged to recognise a Palestinian state if there was no ceasefire in Gaza – in effect rewarding the terror group for its massacre, and explicitly refusing to make this conditional on the release of the remaining hostages.
It is difficult to think of much more the Government could do to signal that it regards Israel as a nation to be punished, short of perhaps going one step further than the Spanish prime minister and actually threatening Israel with nuclear weapons if it does not unilaterally give up its military action to destroy Hamas.
The Royal College of Defence Studies’ website makes clear that Israel is no longer being treated as an ally by the Government. It says that: “we offer extensive training to our international allies.” Since Israelis are no longer welcome, it is clear they are no longer viewed as allies.
None of this should come as a surprise, and we are going to see more of the same. Much attention is focussed on how Labour is under threat from Reform, but not enough has been paid to the other side of the pincer movement which is giving Labour nightmares: the threat from some sectarian Muslim candidates. There are 37 constituencies with a Muslim population over 20 per cent, and in a further 73 seats the Muslim population is between 10 and 20 per cent. Labour’s vote fell by over 14 per cent at last year’s election from 2019 in those constituencies where the Muslim population was above 15 per cent.
This is what is driving Labour’s policy towards Israel. At the very least it is reckless. And although Israel has no real need for any of the arms it buys from the UK – less than 1 per cent of its arms spending – the opposite is not true. Our army relies heavily on the world-leading defence tech supplied by Israel. Labour is putting all that at risk through its craven fear of voters driven by their hostility to Israel.
Speaking at a press conference last week in which he announced sanctions against Israel, Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, bemoaned not having any nuclear weapons – because it meant he couldn’t use them to threaten Israel.
It’s certainly true that neither Sir Keir Starmer nor any member of the British Government has yet threatened the Israelis with nuclear apocalypse.
But every week brings another example of how, under Labour, Israel is now being treated as an enemy state. Today we learn that the Royal College of Defence Studies will no longer accept students from Israel, the first time it has barred Israelis since that nation’s creation in 1948.
As Amir Baram, the director general of Israel’s defence ministry (who studied at the college) put it in a letter to the Ministry of Defence, the ban on Israelis is “a profoundly dishonourable act of disloyalty to an ally at war” and a “disgraceful break with Britain’s proud tradition of tolerance – and plain decency”.
For decades Israel has been a key ally of the UK and vice versa. Our military cooperation has been intense, to the huge benefit of both nations, and Israeli intelligence has been pivotal in preventing terror attacks here. But while no formal announcement has been made, it is clear that the Government has decided from day one that those decades as allies are now over.
From the very beginning of its time in office it has treated Israel not as an ally fighting a proxy war on behalf of the West to defeat Islamist terror, but as a rogue state to be punished. Within weeks it restored UK taxpayer funding to Unrwa, the UN aid body some of whose employees were reportedly found to have taken part in the October 7 2023 Hamas massacre; it blocked the export of some arms to Israel; and it backed the ICC’s arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli defence minister.
And, most perniciously, in July Sir Keir Starmer pledged to recognise a Palestinian state if there was no ceasefire in Gaza – in effect rewarding the terror group for its massacre, and explicitly refusing to make this conditional on the release of the remaining hostages.
It is difficult to think of much more the Government could do to signal that it regards Israel as a nation to be punished, short of perhaps going one step further than the Spanish prime minister and actually threatening Israel with nuclear weapons if it does not unilaterally give up its military action to destroy Hamas.
The Royal College of Defence Studies’ website makes clear that Israel is no longer being treated as an ally by the Government. It says that: “we offer extensive training to our international allies.” Since Israelis are no longer welcome, it is clear they are no longer viewed as allies.
None of this should come as a surprise, and we are going to see more of the same. Much attention is focussed on how Labour is under threat from Reform, but not enough has been paid to the other side of the pincer movement which is giving Labour nightmares: the threat from some sectarian Muslim candidates. There are 37 constituencies with a Muslim population over 20 per cent, and in a further 73 seats the Muslim population is between 10 and 20 per cent. Labour’s vote fell by over 14 per cent at last year’s election from 2019 in those constituencies where the Muslim population was above 15 per cent.
This is what is driving Labour’s policy towards Israel. At the very least it is reckless. And although Israel has no real need for any of the arms it buys from the UK – less than 1 per cent of its arms spending – the opposite is not true. Our army relies heavily on the world-leading defence tech supplied by Israel. Labour is putting all that at risk through its craven fear of voters driven by their hostility to Israel.