By Sunday, he was addressing a Board of Deputies meeting in London. Without notes, the MP spoke for 15 minutes and was genuinely charming and funny. Settlements, the Balfour Declaration anniversary, the Home Affairs committee report on antisemitism and rising Jew-hatred in Britain all got a mention before Sir Eric moved on to discussing his impressive work on post-Shoah issues.
So gushing was praise for the speech, deputies were practically rushing to the podium to embrace the Conservative politician when he concluded.
There are some rough edges to iron out. His mispronunciation of the word “kippah” as “kupper” triggered an image of Charedi men donning a Tommy Cooper fez instead of a streimel.
Cynics may believe he is doing all this for political capital and junkets to Israel. But consider this: Sir Eric is a 64-year-old former cabinet minister who represents the Essex constituency of Brentwood and Ongar which, I believe, has few Jewish voters. His political CV is likely to land him a peerage one day. He has been visiting Israel for more than 35 years and discussed peace prospects with Yitzhak Rabin before his assassination.
It is easy to take such support for granted. But can we afford to, when we have a government that has flip-flopped on Israel and an official opposition whose stance on antisemitism and the Jewish state is indefensible?
I would suggest Sir Eric does not need us quite as much as we need him.
