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David Cameron says he would oppose boycott of Israel in speech to Knesset David Cameron says he would oppose boycott of Israel in speech to Knesset
(about 1 hour later)
David Cameron has made a heartfelt appeal in the Israeli parliament for its leaders to reach out to their Palestinian partners as he insisted he would oppose any boycott of Israel, even though British official advice is for British businesses not to invest in the West Bank. David Cameron has made a passionate appeal in the Israeli parliament for its leaders to recognise the dividend of peace as he poured praise on Israel's values and vowed that Britain would steadfastly oppose any boycott of Israel.
In his speech to the Knesset, Cameron made only a passing reference to the issue of Israeli illegal settlements on the West Bank, one of the stumbling blocks to an elusive peace deal being sought by the Americans. He also denounced Iran as a despotic regime still intent on arming Israel's enemies, adding that he believed he would be fighting the threat posed by political extremism all his political life.
He said: "We back the compromises needed – including the halt to settlement activity and an end to Palestinian incitement too." The official guidance of the UK business department warns: "There are clear risks related to financial and economic activities in the settlements and we do not encourage or offer support to such activity." In his speech to the Knesset – only the second ever made by a British prime minister – Cameron laid down few challenges to his audience and made only a passing reference to the issue of Israeli illegal settlements on the West Bank, one of the biggest stumbling blocks to an elusive peace deal being sought by the Americans.
Cameron's speech sought to glide over the settlements and instead focus on the economic, political and security gains to Israel from reaching an agreement. He said: "We back the compromises needed – including the halt to settlement activity and an end to Palestinian incitement too."
Cameron, aware of the delicate state of the talks being overseen by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, deliberately steered clear of lecturing the 120 MPs on how to conduct the talks. It is his first visit to Israel as prime minister and Cameron felt under pressure to underscore his personal commitment to Israel and the preservation of the memory of the Holocaust, recalling his own visit with his children to the Holocaust memorial in Berlin. Cameron's no-boycotts message does not sit easily with recently issued UK government advice highlighting problems and risks associated with doing business with illegal Israeli settlements and related activities in occupied Palestinian territory.
Avoiding the details of the Kerry peace process, he said instead: "People come to this parliament from all over the world and talk about how to run your peace process. I will not do that. You know I want peace and a two-state solution. You don't need lectures from me about how to get there." Published on the Israel page of the UK's Department of Trade and Industry website, the guidance warns that there are "clear risks related to economic and financial activities in the settlements, and we do not encourage or offer support to such activity".
He asked his audience to imagine "mutual recognition of the nation state of the Palestinian people and the nation state of the Jewish people". His remark stopped short of the Israeli demand for Israel to be recognised as a Jewish state, a proposal rejected outright by the Palestinians in deference to the Palestinians who would remain in Israel after the creation of two states. The document urges firms to take legal advice and consider "possible abuses of the rights of individuals" involved in doing business with illegal Israeli settlements.
The tinderbox of Israeli politics was on full display when the introduction to Cameron in the Knesset by Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, was interrupted by heckling and the removal of one MP who refused to be silent. Before the speech members of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party left the hall as Netanyahu took the podium. Arab members of the Knesset also boycotted Netanyahu's speech, returning to hear the speech of the opposition leader Isaac Herzog and Cameron. During his speech – which had been preceded in the Knesset by angry barracking between the political parties, walkouts and one ejection – Cameron poured praise on Israel and urged its leaders to imagine the prize of peace.
Cameron praised the courageous decisions Netanyahu had taken by releasing political prisoners. But he said he wanted all sides to imagine the possibilities of peace, and avoided any warning that the Kerry process may be the last chance for peace, the view expressed by William Hague, the foreign secretary. In a 30-minute address designed to reassure the Israelis of his personal commitment to their security, he found some Jewish ancestry in his great-great-great-grandfather, promised to defeat any attempt to ban kosher slaughter practices and claimed to have led the fight against antisemitism in the UK. He also recalled his own visit with his children to the Holocaust memorial in Berlin.
In remarks that won him praise, he also repeatedly referred to Israel as "the nation state of the Jewish people". Cameron promised that his belief in Israel "is unbreakable" and his commitment to Israel's security "will always be rock solid".
The political disruption in the Knesset was in part due to the passing of laws requiring ultra-Orthodox Jews to be subject to conscription and underlined the challenge the prime minister, Binyamin Netanhayu, faces in pushing any peace deal through faction-ridden Israeli politics.
The firing of more rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel will also serve to raise Israeli anger at the way in which the new Iranian regime appears to be arming Hamas fighters.
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, has set a deadline of next month to reach a framework agreement on a two-state solution, but there is no clear sign that he is on the verge of a breakthrough.
Cameron, aware of the delicate state of the talks being overseen by Kerry, deliberately steered clear of lecturing the 120 MPs on how to conduct the talks.
He said instead: "People come to this parliament from all over the world and talk about how to run your peace process. I will not do that. You know I want peace and a two-state solution. You don't need lectures from me about how to get there."
He asked his audience to imagine "mutual recognition of the nation state of the Palestinian people and the nation state of the Jewish people". His remark stopped narrowly short of the Israeli demand for Israel to be recognised as a Jewish state, a proposal rejected outright by the Palestinians in deference to the Palestinians who would remain in Israel after the creation of two states.
Cameron praised the courageous decisions Netanyahu had taken in releasing political prisoners. But he said he wanted all sides to imagine the possibilities of peace, and avoided any warning that the Kerry process may be the last chance for peace, the view expressed by William Hague, the foreign secretary.
There have been suggestions that Israel might find itself isolated and subjected to trade boycotts and disinvestment if it is seen to be responsible for the failure of talks due to reach fruition by next month.There have been suggestions that Israel might find itself isolated and subjected to trade boycotts and disinvestment if it is seen to be responsible for the failure of talks due to reach fruition by next month.
Cameron said: "To those who do not share my ambition, who want to boycott Israel, I have a clear message. Britain opposes boycotts, whether it's trade unions campaigning for the exclusion of Israelis or universities trying to stifle academic exchange." But Cameron said: "To those who do not share my ambition, who want to boycott Israel, I have a clear message. Britain opposes boycotts, whether it's trade unions campaigning for the exclusion of Israelis or universities trying to stifle academic exchange."
He said: "Delegitimising the state of Israel is wrong. It's abhorrent. And together we will defeat it."He said: "Delegitimising the state of Israel is wrong. It's abhorrent. And together we will defeat it."
In the central theme of his speech, Cameron tried to map out a vision of a peaceful Israel living side by side with Palestine. He said the peace dividends would involve "an end to the outrageous lectures on human rights that Israel receives at the United Nations from the likes of Iran and North Korea. An end to the ridiculous situation where last year the United Nations general assembly passed three times as many resolutions on Israel as on Syria, Iran and North Korea put together. No more excuses for the 32 countries in the United Nations who refuse to recognise Israel." In the central theme of his speech, Cameron tried to map out a vision of a peaceful, economically thriving Israel living side by side with Palestine. He said the peace dividends would involve "an end to the outrageous lectures on human rights that Israel receives at the United Nations from the likes of Iran and North Korea. An end to the ridiculous situation where last year the United Nations general assembly passed three times as many resolutions on Israel as on Syria, Iran and North Korea put together. No more excuses for the 32 countries in the United Nations who refuse to recognise Israel."
He urged: "Think of the capitals in the Arab world where Israelis could travel, do business, and build a future. Imagine Israel – like any other democratic nation – finally treated fairly and normally by all."He urged: "Think of the capitals in the Arab world where Israelis could travel, do business, and build a future. Imagine Israel – like any other democratic nation – finally treated fairly and normally by all."
He said Israel would have not "a temporary deal, broken by Hamas firing rockets at you or Iranian proxies smuggling weapons through the Jordan valley. But a proper, lasting peace that allows a strong, moderate Palestinian government to end the fears of a failed state on Israel's border. A deal that means an end of all claims – and an end of all conflict."He said Israel would have not "a temporary deal, broken by Hamas firing rockets at you or Iranian proxies smuggling weapons through the Jordan valley. But a proper, lasting peace that allows a strong, moderate Palestinian government to end the fears of a failed state on Israel's border. A deal that means an end of all claims – and an end of all conflict."
He said he also understood Israel's concerns about security, and had realised only relatively recently how narrow and fragile the land of Israel was, and what it must be like to be afraid in your home. He said that vulnerability had been underscored this week with the interception of the Klos C ship.He said he also understood Israel's concerns about security, and had realised only relatively recently how narrow and fragile the land of Israel was, and what it must be like to be afraid in your home. He said that vulnerability had been underscored this week with the interception of the Klos C ship.
He said his belief "in Israel is unbreakable and his commitment to Israel's security will always be rock-solid. I understand the concern of Israelis who have seen land that Israel has pulled out of becoming a base for terrorist attacks. And I will always stand up for the right of Israel to defend its citizens." Cameron also insisted that Israel had not been the cause of the shadow that he said Iran represented, or of extremist Islam. He said: "We are in the middle of a generational struggle against a poisonous ideology which is an extreme distortion of the Islamic faith – and which holds that terror and murder are not only acceptable but necessary. I am convinced we will be fighting Islamic extremism for the rest of my political lifetime."
Cameron also insisted that Israel had not been the cause of the shadow that he said Iran represented, or of extremist Islam. He said: "We are in the middle of a generational struggle against a poisonous ideology which is extreme distortion of the Islamic faith – and which holds that terror and murder and are not only acceptable but necessary. I am convinced we will be fighting Islamic extremism for the rest of my political lifetime." Cameron is an unabashed supporter of a rapprochement with Iran, so long as the lifting of economic sanctions leads to commitments by Iran not to develop nuclear weapons.
Cameron is an unabashed supporter of a rapprochement with Iran so long as the lifting of economic sanctions leads to commitments by Iran not to develop nuclear weapons. But he told the Knesset: "I share your deep scepticism and great concern about Iran. I am not starry-eyed about the new regime. A nuclear-armed Iran is a threat to the whole world – not just to Israel; and with Israel and all our allies, Britain will ensure that is never allowed to happen."
Cameron said: "From the early pioneers, the men and women of the Palestine Exploration Fund who saw the Jewish history in this land and the possibilities for the future, to the Balfour Declaration – the moment when the state of Israel went from a dream to a plan – Britain has played a proud and vital role in helping to secure Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people."
He underscored his pro-Israeli credentials, saying he had removed the threats to Israelis travelling to Britain, and had removed preachers of antisemitic hate.
He added: "When I saw the threat that Hezbollah represented to Israel and beyond I forged a Europe-wide consensus to proscribe its military wing, a key step in the fight against this enemy on your borders.
"I have led the fight against antisemitism and extremism in Britain. We have removed over 26,000 pieces of illegal terrorist content from the internet, worked with the police and with universities to stop extremists spreading their divisive messages on our university campuses and we have excluded more foreign preachers of hate on the basis of our strategy for preventing extremism than ever before."