Badenoch: Expel and revoke visas of ‘modern-day brownshirts’ who bully Israeli professor at City University

“We are seeing modern day brown shirts. This is not protesting against the state authority or even another country. It's going after a particular individual simply because he's had military service elsewhere. I think that that's quite wrong. I think that they have probably violated quite a few of our laws already, and that should be looked into”, she added.

The Tory leader was visiting Menorah Primary School in Golders Green and held a roundtable with Jewish communal representatives, including Jonny Newton from the Community Security Trust, Gary Ost from Shomrim, leader of the Conservative group on Barnet council Peter Zinkin, and Naomi Lerer from Noa Girls.

Badenoch told the meeting that she thought it was “really important to show support for the Jewish community.”

“There are a lot of politicians who are cowards, and even though they may not like what they see, they don't want to get involved. I think it's really important to show leadership and let people know that there is still some moral clarity in this country.”

Speaking to the JC, Badenoch stressed that “it's very important that Jewish people know that the Conservative Party has their back. I want this country to be a sanctuary for Jewish people, as it always has been. It horrifies me when I hear that people are leaving”.

“Every day people are coming in making plans to move to Israel. People don't feel safe here, and after what happened in Manchester, a lot of people's fears were realised. The attack on a synagogue was an abhorrent act, absolutely disgusting. And I think that we need to make sure that we raise the level of awareness of what is happening to the Jewish community. Many people think that this is just about Israel and Palestine, I think it goes far beyond that.

She urged any British Jew who is thinking of leaving the country to reconsider: “Please don't go. We love you; we want you to stay. And I certainly am doing everything in my power to make our country safer for you.”

Badenoch said that police forces needed to take action to avoid the perception of double standards.

“Many Jewish people have told me about how they have been treated differently. They certainly believe that there's two-tiered policing. I think that the police need better guidance. I think that most of the time they are just worried about a situation getting beyond their control. They need to prioritise the safety of Jewish people.”

“What we're seeing, in my view, aren't pro-Palestinian protests. They are anti-Jewish protests. I think that we need to do something about many of the protests that are used to harass people. Speaking today, lots of people talked about protests outside their synagogue. Protests should be about talking to authority, to the state, not harassing minorities”, she added.

In an earlier interview with the JC ahead of the 2024 general election, Badenoch said that her former colleague Suella Braverman’s description of pro-Palestine marches as “hate marches” was “unhelpful”.

Although she still maintained that she “wouldn't have used that language”, Badenoch said that since then, there has been a significant negative escalation in anti-Israel actions and rhetoric.

“I do think that there is a lot of hateful activity that is taking place, and we need to start removing a lot of the elements that are attending these marches”.

She praised the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation but was concerned about the demonstrations in support of the group.

“We're still seeing lots of people actively protesting, and that is, in my view, very deeply worrying. That's a group that attacked military defence equipment. That is what we see from hostile state actors. I don't think enough people are aware of how bad the situation is getting. I'm certainly very concerned”, the former business secretary said.

Would things really be any different for British Jews under a Conservative government? Badenoch said they would, citing the recent example of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being banned from attending the Europa League clash with Aston Villa.

Although the prime minister and home secretary condemned the decision, Badenoch said that more could have been done.

“I would have said: ‘Please come here. We will do everything to protect you. And anyone at all who tries to harass or hurt you will face the full force of the law.’ That's the difference between us Conservatives and Labour, who gave out some warm words but didn't actually do anything.

The Conservative leader said that the government is hesitant to take certain actions for fear of losing more Muslim and left-wing voters: “They have a lot of challenges on the left of their party, the Gaza independents took votes off Labour. I think many of them are worried about it, but they should be thinking about what is morally right, not just hanging on to their seat.

“What's the point of being an MP if you're not going to do anything”, she added.

On foreign policy, the Tory leader drew an even sharper contrast with Labour, arguing that the government was wrong to suspend some arms export licences to Israel.

“I was the trade secretary. I was responsible for that, and it was quite clear that all Israel was doing was defending itself. Many of the materials that we're going were not even arms as such. They were just equipment.”

Similarly, she said that a Conservative government wouldn’t have “recognised Palestine while Hamas – a terrorist organisation – were running it. We would just be recognising a terrorist state”.

“So that's just two things which would have been different had conservatives been in government”, she added.