Election manifestos rarely throw up great surprises. Almost every detail is stage-managed, policy-advised, and leaked to the media.
But pro-Palestinian voices in Labour could be forgiven for thinking they had been short-changed when they read their party’s policy document on Monday morning.
It contained no binding, or even clear, reference to unilateral Palestinian statehood, which so many of the party’s MPs voted for last October.
After months of promoting the issue, and that notorious attempt to whip his MPs into voting for recognition, many would have expected Ed Miliband’s manifesto to be more definitive.
Instead, the document went only so far as to pledge commitment to an “independent state of Palestine” alongside a “secure Israel”. That would be the two-state solution to which every mainstream politician now gives lip-service.
Mr Miliband had spoken a little more widely on the issue at the end of last week, telling a press conference he still backed the vote but would “not speculate” about when recognition of Palestine should take place.
Not going further may anger some Labour MPs and – some would argue – Muslim voters in key constituencies, but this slightly less forceful stance might also have been a minor victory for pro-Israel voices in the shadow cabinet.
For the Tories, the statehood issue did not get a mention, but Israel settlement building did. David Cameron’s defence of Israel’s actions during the Gaza conflict was clear. His party’s manifesto describes its support for Israel’s security as “robust”.
But the condemnation of “illegal settlement building, which undermines the prospects for peace” is a clear nod to the Alan Duncan wing of the party, which strokes Israel with one hand while beating it with the other.
The mainstream parties were united on one issue — anti-semitism and race hatred. Labour’s mini-manifesto for minority communities reinforced support for teaching modern Hebrew and for tackling Jew-hatred. The Liberal Democrats went so far as to name-check the Community Security Trust.
Nigel Farage kept his word as the Ukip policy document ruled out banning shechita, while promising to toughen up regulations surrounding religious slaughter.
All in all, British Jews can take comfort from this week’s policy announcements. The major parties remain committed to staying relatively even-handed on Israel, while standing foursquare behind religious practices.
Plus, should the fringe parties enter coalition negotiations, their policies on issues of interest to the community will fall way behind their priorities on immigration, the environment and austerity.
But manifesto pledges are made to be broken. You can bet that any of these paper promises will not stand up to the rigours of running a government.
