From: clive.denton
Date: 2006-08-07 11:38:09
Jewish lobby orders British politicians to support Israel *** The main “opposition” party in Britain is under serious pressure from “the Jewish community” and “friends of Israel” to stop criticising Israel and support the continued bombing of Lebanon and Palestine. ***Cameron faces revolt over IsraelDAVID CAMERON is facing the first serious revolt within his party after senior Tories disowned frontbench criticism of Israel’s “disproportionate” bombardment of Lebanon. The broadside was led by Lord Kalms, a former Tory treasurer, Iain Duncan Smith, the previous leader, and Conservative Friends of Israel.[Israel also enjoys the support of the Jewish former party leader, Michael Howard, who was known as Michael Hecht until he changed his name to something that sounded more British. His Jewish collegue, Tory leadership candidate Oliver Letwin, also supports Israel, as do many others in the Conservative party and other British political parties.][There is no “Conservative Friends” group for other countries, least of all those most in need of our support. There is no comparable group within any political party with the ability to cause “serious” problems for even the most senior politicians when they fail to align with one particular agenda, or create major headline news stories in leading newspapers like this example. The Jewish lobby enjoys an exceptional influence over British politics and the mass media.]Lord Kalms, a prominent member of the Jewish community, accused William Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, of behaving like an “ignorant armchair critic” for criticising Israeli attacks on Lebanese army units [who are not involved in the conflict and not allowed to fight back] and public buildings [with people still in them, as well as cars and other vehicles], and the high civilian death toll. He said that Mr Hague’s remarks were not just unhelpful, they were “downright dangerous”. An unrepentant Mr Hague reiterates his criticism of Israel’s military tactics in an article in The Times today. Lord Kalms, in a letter to The Spectator, wrote: “William Hague’s usual good sense has deserted him. Criticising Israel for being disproportionate without serious consideration of the alternatives merely mouths the buzzwords of the ignorant armchair critic. “A tragedy is unfolding; the outcome is life or death to the Israeli nation state. William, your comments are not merely unhelpful; they are downright dangerous. As on other issues, is the Conservative Party changing its ground?” Mr Hague, writing in The Times after consulting Mr Cameron, who is on holiday, says that British ministers should have warned Israel of the dangers and injustice of attacks on public buildings. He writes: “The Government should have been able to say clearly two weeks ago, as both David Cameron and I did, that elements of the Israeli response were disproportionate, risking unnecessary loss of civilian life and an increase in popular support for Hezbollah.” Mr Duncan Smith made a thinly veiled attack on Mr Hague on Conservativehome.com. He wrote: “Most observers, including some leading members of my own party, believe that Israel has acted disproportionately. The best thing the world community does is talk . . . But jaw-jaw has not stopped the suicide bomb or missile attacks on Israel.” Robert Halfon, political director of Conservative Friends of Israel, said: “We do not dis-agree with anything said by Lord Kalms but are confident that David Cameron will be resolute.” SOURCE:The Times, “Cameron faces revolt over Israel”, 3 August 2006.www.timesonline.co.u…,,17129-2297096,00.html avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 0631-3, 04/08/2006Tested on: 8/7/2006 11:40:52avast! – copyright (c) 2000-2006 ALWIL Software.
