“A plague on both their houses: vote for the Party that carries no baggage” is Nick Clegg’s message and it’s a superficially seductive one – as the polls after last Thursday’s Leaders’ Debate show.
But the LibDems’ record on Israel is awful, as catalogued by Richard Millett and Chas Newkey-Burden and as shown by Lord Wallace at Sunday’s Board of Deputies meeting:
http://thejc.com/blogpost/dont-vote-libdem-if-you-value-israel
http://www.oyvagoy.com/2010/04/18/nick-clegg-in-the-foreign-office/
http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/30643/lib-dem-lords-deputy-leader-caus...
Note that Nick Clegg was advised by a former member of the ISM.
But Labour’s record on Israel is awful too. They have done nothing to stop the political abuse of Universal Jurisdiction, whereby apart from Ministers, any Israeli who has served in the IDF risks arrest if they come to the UK. Kaufman and Linton - two MPs who made antisemitic statements within the parliamentary precinct – are still on their list of candidates:
http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/30211/labour-asked-withdraw-anti-zioni...
And look at the rest of Labour’s record:
-Failed to vote against Goldstone Report at UNHRC
-Commenced arms embargo on Israel
-The Foreign Secretary said that Cast Lead was ‘disproportionate’
-The Charity Commission - led by a Labour Party activist - has failed to make War On Want and other Charities live up to their legal obligation to tell the truth about Israel
-Brown promoted Ben Bradshaw to Cabinet after he said on “Any Questions” (January 23 2009) "I am afraid the BBC has to stand up to the Israeli authorities occasionally... Israel has a long reputation of bullying the BBC..."
-Decided to talk to Hezbolla
-Initiated separate labelling for West Bank settlement goods in supermarkets.
I believe that the Conservatives would have voted against Goldstone at the UN and that they would have changed Universal Jurisdiction to prevent a private individual being able to obtain an arrest warrant for visitors from abroad. If you want to see a Conservative candidate‘s balanced view on Israel, look at this video of Chris Philp, standing in Hampstead and Kilburn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwKO-UMuXeI
The Conservatives offer the most likely chance of a fair deal for Israel. But with Gordon Brown telling everyone how close Labour and the LibDems are on policy ("I agree with Nick"), they have a battle on their hands. Remember that Gordon Brown can remain Prime Minister even if he wins fewer seats than David Cameron, if he offers the LibDems PR for example and they agree to form a coalition. In such an event you can forget about any prospect of closing the Universal Jurisdiction loophole. EDM 502 opposing change was overwhelmingly signed by Labour and LibDem MPs: 133 of them versus just 2 Conservatives.
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=40074
“Vote Clegg or Brown and you won’t get Tsipi Livni” – that’s the message for 6 May. Only the Conservatives offer a fair deal for Israel.
Disclaimer: These views should not be attributed to the ZF