The JC: David Cameron "to fight for Israel" at UN

Categories: Latest News
Friday September 23 2011
![]() |
The Jewish Chronicle today reports on the direct intervention of the Prime Minister, David Cameron, to “fight for Israel” as the Palestinians submitted their bid for statehood at the UN this week. |
The JC reports:
“The Prime Minister flew to New York this week “to fight for Israel” at the United Nations, according to senior Conservative Party sources.
“The UK government has been careful during an intense period of diplomatic brinksmanship not to show its hand on whether it would support the recognition of Palestinian statehood. But the JC understands that David Cameron’s intention has been to keep the Palestinian bid out of the Security Council and to reach a deal that falls short of recognition.
“The Conservative sources were keen to emphasise that the coalition government had done right by Israel in its reform of the law of “universal jurisdiction”, allowing Israeli politicians and military figures to visit the UK without fear of arrest for alleged war crimes.”
Amending the law on universal jurisdiction to placate Israeli officials sought on allegations of war crimes was among the campaign promises pledged by the Conservatives in an advertisement in the JC last May, ahead of the general elections.
The appraisal that the amendment to the law on universal jurisdiction has “done right by Israel,” runs contrary to the criticism leveled by the Joint Committee on Human Rights to the move and disregards the support shown by more than 145 MPs for an early day motion resisting any changes to the law. One wonders whom it is the Conservative Party have sought to represent in this affair, the British people or the pro-Israel lobby? A poll taken in December 2009, the time of the Tzipi Livni affair which sparked off the pressure for a change, showed that 54% of the UK population expressed support for the rule of international law.
The JC article continues:
“At the same time, the Labour Party under Ed Miliband gave the strongest indication yet that it was distancing itself from the Blair-Brown era of close support for Israel, when it told the UK government on Tuesday that it “should be willing to support the recognition of Palestinian statehood”.
“The Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies wrote to Mr Alexander expressing “profound concern and disappointment”. In a letter to Mr Cameron they urged the government to oppose moves for a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood.”
The full text of the letter sent by Shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander, to William Hague can be read here.
You can write to Mr Alexander expressing your appreciation for his letter recommending support for the UN statehood bid by the Palestinians by email on [email protected] or address your letter to:
The Rt. Hon. Douglas Alexander MP,
Shadow Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary,
House of Commons,
London, SW1A 0AA