Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, has revealed that he “expressed concern” about the levels of antisemitism in the UK during a recent call with his British counterpart, Yvette Cooper.
Sharing a summary of the call on X, Sa’ar wrote: “In a conversation with British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper I expressed concern over the escalation of violent antisemitic incidents in the UK.
"I referred to the torching of the Hatzola organisation's ambulances last week.
"Antisemitism in the UK, as well as in other countries, is spreading like wildfire in a field of thorns in a way that demands root treatment."
Sa’ar was referring to the arson attack against four ambulances belonging to the volunteer-run Jewish organisation in Golders Green last Monday.
CCTV footage of the attack showed three individuals, dressed in black, hooded and masked, approach the vehicles just seconds before they were engulfed in flames.
Police subsequently confirmed that the incident was being investigated as an “antisemitic hate crime” and that Counter Terror Police were leading the investigation.
Two men have since been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and released on bail until an unspecified date in April.
Sa’ar also mentioned an article written by Sir Tony Blair for The Free Press, in which the former prime minister argued that British and European leaders are failing to confront the “environment of tacit permission” enabling Jew-hate.
"I mentioned the recent article by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, which pointed to the connection between the irresponsible delegitimisation of Israel and the rise of antisemitism in the West,” Sa’ar added.
From there, the conversation reportedly turned to Israel’s military operation in Lebanon, with Sa’ar continuing: I drew the Foreign Secretary's attention to the unfortunate fact that even the Lebanese Foreign Minister's decision to expel the Iranian ambassador from his country remained on paper, just as the Lebanese government's decision to disarm Hezbollah remained only on paper.
"Exactly as the Lebanese army's statement three months ago that it had achieved "operational control" in southern Lebanon up to the Litani [River] proved to be hollow.
“In contrast, the 5,000 missiles, rockets, and drones fired at Israel since March 2 are entirely tangible.
“Israel has the right to defend itself and will continue to act to protect its citizens.”
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed that he had instructed the IDF to expand its "security buffer zone" in Lebanon in order to "thwart the threat of invasion and to keep the anti-tank missile fire away from our border".
Southern Lebanon has been largely cut off by airstrikes on bridges along the Litani River since Iran-backed Hezbollah joined the war on the side of the Islamic Republic after an Israeli strike killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Israel has maintained a presence in Lebanon beyond the deadline set out in a 2024 ceasefire between the two sides, arguing that the Lebanese Army has not deployed as stipulated under the truce to replace its withdrawing forces.
However, in recent weeks, the IDF has been expanding this presence in the form of what it calls a “forward defence”.
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