By Charles Gardner —
With a new leader set to take over from Boris Johnson at the helm of the British government, it is surely a good time to review our relationship with Israel.
Conservative leaders have traditionally described themselves as ‘friends of Israel’, but this hasn’t really affected the underlying, and longstanding, animosity of our Foreign Office.
It now emerges that Britain has been training and funding Palestinian security services since 2011 at a cost of millions to taxpayers. These are the same people who torture critics of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, according to an expose by the Jewish Chronicle in which 14 members of the PA’s Preventive Security Organization were caught on CCTV abducting Palestinian human rights activist Nizar Banat in June 2021.1
He died in hospital after evidently undergoing brutal treatment at the hands of Palestinian security forces. More recent calls for justice over his murder have been met with further arrests.
Yet Abbas, a Holocaust denier involved in the Munich massacre 50 years ago next week, is committed to the destruction of Israel.
For our part, we keep declaring our friendship with Israel, but are at the same time contributing to its potential destruction, just as we have done in the past by repeatedly appeasing Arab demands.
It’s time to break this cycle of corruption, abuse and violence. And it won’t happen by pursuing the dead-end policy of a ‘two-state solution’.
We urgently need to revisit the policy enshrined by our government in the early 20th century that was emphatically committed to the restoration of the Jewish people. It came about through a correct understanding of God’s plan for the world (contained in the Jewish Bible) and particularly for his chosen people.
Men like Lord Shaftesbury, Charles Spurgeon and Bishop J C Ryle correctly interpreted a raft of prophecies about Jews returning to their ancient land from every corner of the planet.
It was therefore our solemn duty, as a Christian nation, to facilitate such an outcome. And yes, we started well, by capturing Jerusalem from the Turks and by promising to resettle God’s people there through the Balfour Declaration that immediately preceded it.
But we soon lost our nerve as we caved in to Arab threats and riots. Yet, despite our betrayal, Israel was re-born and is today among the leading nations of the world. But we obviously haven’t learned our lesson as we continue to undermine her security and future.
Col Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, says: “Banat was a campaigner for democracy, but the PA is corrupt. There are numerous countries in the region that exist on repression and corruption, and for us to encourage another state like this is morally bankrupt. British funds should not be going to forces that torture and murder people.”2
For their part, the so-called British Support Team are reportedly using their influence to reform Palestinian forces. But part of their training allegedly includes teaching ‘inclusivity and gender awareness’ – the new religion of the Left that is unlikely to contribute to peace.
Former Labour MP Joan Ryan said: “The significant amount of aid given by the UK in good faith is being abused by corrupt and dangerous forces within the PA.”
A Foreign Office spokesperson is quoted as saying: “The UK government is clear that further improvements are needed in the Palestinian security sector. We regularly raise concerns about the handling of complaints of mistreatment, arbitrary detention or human rights abuses at the highest levels of the PA, including the failure to deliver a transparent investigation and accountability following the death in custody of Nizar Banat.”
The new religion of undisguised wokery needs to be replaced by a return to the ‘old religion’ on which Britain and Western civilization was built, and which is encapsulated in the Jewish Bible, which makes it absolutely clear whose side we should take.
In the words of the prophet Isaiah, “the nation or kingdom that will not serve you [Israel] will perish; it will be utterly ruined.” (Isaiah 60:12) Could this be why we are facing so many crises in these tumultuous times? And on this issue, the Church (which could never have existed without the Jews) must take the lead in challenging our politicians. For judgment begins with the house of God. (1 Peter 4:17)
1Jewish Chronicle, 25th August 2022, also quoted by United with Israel, 26th August 2022
2Ibid
