Peter Oborne

False friends

Israel doesn’t need cheerleaders; it needs allies who are prepared to be critical

Harold Macmillan once remarked that: ‘There are three bodies no sensible man ever directly challenges: the Roman Catholic Church, the Brigade of Guards and the National Union of Mineworkers.’ Today it’s tempting to add a fourth name to this list: the Conservative Friends of Israel.

The CFI counts an estimated 80 per cent of Tory MPs among its members. It can whistle up cabinet ministers for its dinners and has superb access to Downing Street and Whitehall.

This week, the CFI pulled off what looks like yet another coup with the remarkably muted British government reaction to Israel’s killing of approximately 60 and wounding of more than 2,500 Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border.

Belgium and Ireland have called in their Israeli ambassadors for a dressing down. South Africa and Turkey have recalled their ambassadors to Israel. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson and Middle East minister Alistair Burt urged restraint but were careful to blame ‘extremist elements’ among the Palestinians for exploiting protests ‘for their own violent purposes’.

In Tuesday’s emergency debate, one Tory backbencher after another rallied to Israel’s cause, reiterating Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion that Hamas, not Israel, is to blame for the massacre. Robert Halfon, former political director of the CFI, slammed Hamas for ‘using some of these civilians as shields to bring terrorists into Israel’.

No mention of the fact that, at the time of writing, not one Israeli has been killed and only one soldier lightly wounded by shrapnel.

In the light of all this, it’s time to ask a rude, never before asked question. What’s the point of being an uncritical cheerleader for Israel in Westminster and Whitehall?

There is a core justification for Britain’s deep friendship with Israel. It is reiterated endlessly at CFI events: Britain and Israel share the same magnificent moral outlook.    

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in