David Cameron

Banning Hizbollah

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:21:16 +0100

In January we revealed that David Cameron had asked the Jewish community to "make a noise" over Hizbollah, to help him persuade the EU to ban the terrorist organization.

There was - to put it mildly - some disquiet from No 10 that some of the community leaders present had seen fit to make public the Prime Minister's request. Be that as it may, there has indeed been a lot of noise on the subject. And Mr Cameron has now done what he said he would and formally requested that the EU proscribes Hizbollah. Much as the Prime Minister should be praised, it is little of short of astonishing that Hizbollah has ever been allowed to operate within the EU.

Funded primarily by Iran, Hizbollah is a terrorist outfit pure and simple and those who argue otherwise are either fools or knaves. But its EU fundraising is far from negligible and a ban on its activities would be a welcome blow.

David Cameron to judge Anne Frank letter contest

Sandy Rashty — Thu, 09 May 2013 23:30:43 +0100

Prime Minister David Cameron is to judge a competition launched by the Anne Frank Trust UK for young people to say how they would make Britain a better place.

The “Thirteen in 13” project will ask British teenagers to write a 250-word online letter to Mr Cameron, giving their ideas for improving the country.

The trust launched the contest to reflect the fact that Anne Frank received her diary as a present on her 13th birthday.

At the end of the competition, a panel, including Anne Frank’s step-sister Eva Schloss, will select the top 13 letters, with Mr Cameron writing an open response to the winners to be published in the Times in July.

He said: “I am delighted to support the campaign to encourage young people to write about what they want to see in the world.”

Gillian Walnes, co-founder and executive director of the trust, said: “I am encouraging as many Jewish schools and children as possible to take part in the campaign — the winner could hopefully be from the Jewish community.”

David Cameron thanks Lord Sacks for Middle East peace efforts

Marcus Dysch — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:15:15 +0100

Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks met Prime Minister David Cameron to discuss faith schools, the Middle East peace process and other issues of concern to the Jewish community.

Mr Cameron thanked Lord Sacks for his work in serving communities across Britain during the Downing Street meeting. The Chief Rabbi retires from his role on September 1.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "They discussed Jewish day schools and the positive impact that they have had on the Jewish community – an outcome warmly welcomed by the Chief Rabbi.

"Both men discussed the ‘Big Society’ – the importance of people taking responsibility and giving back to society. Lord Sacks noted how faith communities have always made and continue to make a big contribution to civil society."

Mr Cameron told Lord Sacks he was "grateful for the continued involvement of the Jewish community in Britain in their efforts to help find peace" in the Middle East.

The pair also discussed their memories of Baroness Thatcher at the meeting, which took place following her funeral last Wednesday.

Lord Sacks said: "It's always an honour be invited to Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister.

"I had the opportunity to discuss issues of concern and interest to the British Jewish community and thank Prime Minister David Cameron personally for his continued friendship and support."

Since becoming Chief Rabbi in 1991, Lord Sacks has met four Prime Ministers at Downing Street.

David Cameron wishes Jewish community a happy Pesach

Sandy Rashty — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:15:54 +0000

Prime Minister David Cameron has praised the British Jewish community and wished it a happy and peaceful Pesach.

“I send my very best wishes to Jewish communities in Britain and internationally celebrating Passover this year,” he said.

“The fact that millions of people are observing a festival which is thousands of years old shows the enduring and positive strength of your faith in our world.

“And it is right that the story of the Exodus - the freeing of oppressed peoples - is not forgotten. I join you in the hope and determination that a lasting peace can be found for Israel and the wider region.

“I’d also like to take this opportunity to praise the British Jewish community for their significant historic and continued contribution to life in the UK, which has helped make Britain the richly diverse and inclusive place it is today.”

Foreign Secretary William Hague added: “I want to send my warmest wishes to Jewish communities in Britain and across the world. Passover marks the release of the Children of Israel from slavery. It is a joyous time for Jews around the world as they come together to celebrate liberty and freedom. "

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg extended his happy Passover message to "Jewish communities across the UK.

“It is a festival that celebrates self reliance and the determination to be free, despite the difficulties that might stand in your way.

“It is also time for reflection, where the Exodus story is told around the Seder table and passed from one generation to the next.

“For everyone who is celebrating Passover, I wish you Chag Sameach.”

Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "I would like to send my warmest wishes to all those here in Britain and across the world celebrating Passover.

"As you gather around the Seder table with your family and friends, we remember the passage of the children of Israel from slavery to freedom.

"As we celebrate our freedom, we take the time to remember those who still live in oppression. It is a time to consider how we can stand up against injustice, intolerance, and the lack of opportunity which we see around us, so that in celebrating our own freedom, we can also extend the freedom of others."

Cameron: help me kick Hizbollah out of Europe

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:00:00 +0000

David Cameron has asked the Jewish community to help him persuade the European Union to proscribe Hizbollah.

At his meeting last month with the Jewish Leadership Council, the Prime Minister urged its members to “make a noise” and lead a grassroots campaign calling for the EU to take action against the Iranian-backed terror group.

The push to secure a Europe-wide ban was stepped up this week after Bulgarian authorities blamed Hizbollah for the bombing which killed five Israeli tourists in the Black Sea resort of Burgas last July.

At the meeting in Downing Street, JLC members urged Mr Cameron to use his influence to push EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton and EU member states to do more to work towards proscription.

At the moment the EU classifies Hizbollah as a social welfare organisation.

To proscribe Hizbollah requires consensus among all 27 EU members. The move would freeze Hizbollah accounts and funding, hitting its European operations and terrorist activities.

It is understood the Prime Minister is keen to lead the push for proscription, but Mr Cameron wants to be able to show reluctant EU nations the the strength of support for action against Hizbollah within Britain.

French President François Hollande, for example, has been unwilling to reclassify Hizbollah, despite committing troops to tackling terrorism in Africa.

The Bulgarians are believed to have told Mr Cameron that France and Germany asked for the report into the Burgas murders to minimise Hizbollah’s level of responsibility.

In response to Mr Cameron’s plea for assistance, the Jewish community has moved into “top gear”, with leading organisations including the JLC and Board of Deputies urging supporters to increase pressure on those in influential positions.

A briefing pack produced by the JLC and Community Security Trust was released this week. It lists concerns over Hizbollah’s activities and cites money laundering, drugs smuggling and its influence in the conflict in Syria as examples of the wider, non-Israel-related threat posed by the group.

In a joint statement, the JLC, Board of Deputies and CST said Hizbollah’s involvement in the Burgas bombing “shows the EU’s denials have been futile and self-defeating. We call on the UK government to take the lead in pressing the EU to ban Hizbollah before it murders more people”.

The US, Israel, Canada and the Netherlands are the only countries which currently list Hizbollah as a terrorist organisation in its entirety — both its political and military wings.

Britain and Australia list Hizbollah’s military wing as a terrorist group.

Foreign Secretary William Hague led the British response to the Burgas findings, saying the EU must “respond robustly to an attack on European soil”. Mr Hague said he and Home Secretary Theresa May would put pressure on European counterparts to do more on the issue.

Baroness Ashton said the Bulgarian report needed to be “assessed seriously”. EU member states would “discuss the appropriate response”, she said.

The British campaign is part of a worldwide response from Jewish groups including the World Jewish Congress, B’nai B’rith International and the European Jewish Congress.

Moshe Kantor, EJC president, said: “I hope the smoking gun of Burgas will finally lay to rest the argument that Hizbollah’s activities can be described as political in any way, shape or form.

“This has been a long battle but Europeans will be that much safer the day after this long-awaited proscription takes place.”

Newly-appointed US Secretary of State John Kerry said he “strongly urged other governments around the world — and particularly our partners in Europe — to take immediate action to crack down on Hizbollah.

“We need to send an unequivocal message to this terrorist group that it can no longer engage in despicable actions with impunity.”

Meanwhile, the Financial Times’s Middle East and North Africa correspondent, Borzou Daragahi, was forced to make a public apology after suggested in a tweet that Israel may have bribed Bulgaria in order to frame Hizbollah.

He wrote: “I don’t doubt Hizbollah/Iran could be behind Bulgaria bombing, but also think Israel could pay Sofia to say anything.”

HonestReporting, an Israel-based media watchdog, called the tweet “disgraceful”.

European Union is the problem, not the solution

Robin Shepherd — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:00:00 +0000

It is a measure of the EU foreign policy establishment’s timidity that Lebanese terror group and Iranian proxy, Hizbollah, has for so long evaded designation as a terrorist organisation.

And it is a similar measure of the mental capacity of that foreign policy establishment that their best excuse for not following the US in making such a designation is that Hizbollah has both military and political wings. So did the Nazis.

Fascist organisations always aim to engage in social and political issues, partly as a matter of ideological belief and partly because that is how they widen their appeal.

If we reward terror groups that make inroads into politics by turning a blind eye to the vile activities that got them there in the first place, we then become part of the problem, not the solution.

Yet, depressingly, it was no surprise that EU foreign policy supremo Catherine Ashton’s first response to Bulgaria’s Burgas investigation was to tiptoe around the blindingly obvious and call for more time. “We have to reflect on the consequences, we have to consult and come back,” she said.

The British Foreign Office, as ever, is in two minds. Foreign Secretary William Hague is calling for a tough response. But his institutionally anti-Zionist department will be fighting him all the way.

For its part, France, the former colonial power over Lebanon, has hardly covered itself in glory. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said last year that a ban on Hizbollah was unwarranted unless a successful legal case presented itself as the basis for such a move. It seems unlikely that Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is minded to jump on a plane to Sofia to clear his name.

Five Israeli tourists were slaughtered in cold blood in Bulgaria. If they had been French, German or British, there would be nothing to discuss. But because they came from Israel, it’s all an embarrassment and the powers that be want to sweep it under the carpet.

There were well-founded rumours that Bulgaria, fearful of causing “problems” for Ashton et al was going to buckle and fail even to mention Hizbollah. Sofia deserves congratulations for having had the courage to tell the truth.

That is not how it will be seen in Brussels. For them, this is just another Israel-related headache.

Steinberg’s Vision to launch business festival

Jonathan Kalmus — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:00:52 +0000

One of Liverpool’s leading Jewish figures has been tasked by the Prime Minister to deliver what is claimed to be the UK’s largest planned national business event since the 1950s.

Max Steinberg, chief executive of Liverpool Vision economic development company, is chairing the steering committee for the International Festival for Business next year in Merseyside. Prime Minister David Cameron launched the initiative with Mr Steinberg earlier this month.

The 60-day festival will host 500,000 business leaders, investors and companies from 125 countries, and will also showcase UK businesses. Mr Steinberg said the Israeli ambassador to the UK, Daniel Taub, has already agreed to meet to discuss Israeli participation.

Mr Steinberg, who is also chair of governors at Liverpool’s King David High School, said that the last time a business festival took place on this scale was the 1951 Festival of Britain, designed to boost post-war recovery.

He said: “I have to ensure that this festival demonstrates that the UK has a huge amount to offer in international markets, and we are expecting to promote £100m of inward investment as a result.

“We are certainly targeting Tel Aviv as a city we would like to see represented. There are major strengths in the Israeli economy. Currently Liverpool is in early stage discussions with a group of Israeli firms on a joint biomedical agenda.”

David Cameron's assurances on boycotts

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:00:32 +0000

Prime Minister David Cameron has reassured Jewish community leaders of the government’s opposition to boycotts of Israel and determination to protect religious slaughter.

In a Downing Street meeting last Thursday, Mr Cameron also told members of the Jewish Leadership Council about the government’s position on the Iranian nuclear threat.

The delegation, which included Board of Deputies president Vivian Wineman and JLC Trustees’ chair Mick Davis, discussed religious freedoms, the Big Society, social care policy and antisemitism in Britain.

Opening the meeting in the Cabinet room at Downing Street, Mr Cameron said: “I welcome the contribution of the Jewish community to the UK – an enormous amount of contribution in terms of the voluntary sector, in terms of Big Society, in terms of business, in terms of politics, in terms of our national life.

“The Jewish community has been a model for others to follow in terms of successful integration into the UK.”

Mr Wineman said after the meeting: “We are grateful to the Prime Minister for his continued engagement with the community on a number of substantive concerns and for his sympathetic responses.”

David Cameron reassures Jewish community leaders

Marcus Dysch — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:43:19 +0000

Prime Minister David Cameron has reassured Jewish community leaders of the government’s opposition to boycotts of Israel and determination to protect religious slaughter.

In a Downing Street meeting on Thursday, Mr Cameron also told members of the Jewish Leadership Council about the government’s position on the Iranian nuclear threat.

Opening the meeting Mr Cameron said: “I welcome the contribution of the Jewish community to the UK – an enormous amount of contribution in terms of the voluntary sector, in terms of Big Society, in terms of business, in terms of politics, in terms of our national life.

“The Jewish community has been a model for others to follow in terms of successful integration into the UK.”

Mr Wineman said after the meeting: “We are grateful to the Prime Minister for his continued engagement with the community on a number of substantive concerns and for his sympathetic responses.”

Mr Davis said Mr Cameron had been “incredibly responsive” over issues including the need for supporting negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Taken for granted

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:27:09 +0000

On Wednesday night, the doors of No 10 Downing Street were thrown open for a Chanucah party. It had all the usual accoutrements: the doughnuts, the latkes and the Chanucah gelt. It even had the Chief Rabbi, along with the great and good from our community.

But it also had one rather more unusual feature: the Prime Minister. Mr Cameron, who had invited the Jews into his home, did not merely stand back and watch. He lit four candles, under Lord Sacks' tutelage. The previous day, Conservative Friends of Israel held its annual lunch.

Almost 700 people were present, including 140 parliamentarians. Such numbers for CFI are now taken for granted. But they should not be. A few hours before the lunch, the census results were published. We have grown - slightly - in number.

But we remain, in relative terms, a tiny community, just 0.5 per cent of the population. And yet this relatively insignificant minority is responsible for the most widely supported ginger group within the Conservative Party and was the honoured beneficiary of Wednesday night's prime ministerial hospitality. It is, when one reflects on it, little short of astonishing. There is much that is wrong with our community. But there is, as this week has shown, a lot that is right.