Nigel Farage has hinted that his party might reverse the sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank introduced by Ed Miliband.
On Wednesday, the leader of Reform UK spoke with Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar following the British government’s decision to introduce what the foreign secretary described as a “comprehensive sanctions regime”.
Sa’ar, who earlier that day also spoke with opposition leader Kemi Badenoch and shadow foreign secretary Tom Tugendhat, described his conversation with Farage as “great”.
Great conversation with Reform UK leader @Nigel_Farage following the anti-Israel moves by the Labour Government.
I thanked him for his and his party’s support for Israel. He told me he was pleased to have addressed the Reform Friends of Israel event at the party conference in… pic.twitter.com/lWJyuKFobl
“I thanked him for his and his party’s support for Israel. He told me he was pleased to have addressed the Reform Friends of Israel event at the party conference in Birmingham last week, and assured me unequivocally that, in government, Reform UK would reverse the damage done to the UK-Israel relationship by the Labour Government and its policies”, he said in a post on social media.
Farage in turn hinted that a Reform UK government would undo the measures introduced by Labour.
“A Reform government would undo the damage caused by Labour”, he said on X.
The MP for Clacton also raised the issue of the Falkland Islands with Israel’s foreign minister.
“I emphasised the Falklands issue to him and its importance to the British people, though I understand Israel’s relationship with President Milei”, Farage added.
Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir recently suggested that his country respond to Britain’s sanctions by recognising Argentine claims to the Falkland Islands.
Recently, Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israel’s prime minister, was labelled “cretinous” by a former Conservative minister for advocating for Argentine control of the Islands which in a 2013 referendum voted to remain as a British Overseas Territory by a huge margin of 99.8 per cent.
Elsewhere, Farage’s deputy Richard Tice joined in the attack on Labour over their new policies towards Israel, suggesting they were motivated by domestic political concerns.
Writing in the JC, he said: “Of course, with a by-election in the offing against the equally Israel-obsessed Green Party, Burnham and Miliband chose to recklessly rush ahead. These two parties are in a race to the bottom in their desperation to show how hostile they can be to the world’s only Jewish state. The far-left cranks and Islamists can’t believe their luck.”
The MP for Boston and Skegness, who spoke at a demonstration opposing the measures outside Downing Street on Wednesday, echoed concerns about the language used by ministers: “The disgusting – and unmistakably racist – “baby killer” slur is already hurled at Jews in this country. It won’t be long before the racists start throwing around abuse about “ethnic cleansing”. Except this time, they will be doing it with the full blessing of the UK government.”
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