Published in the Jerusalem Post, 16 June 2025
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CANZUK (an acronym formed from the initial
letters of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK), is an advocacy body
promoting the idea of close formal cooperation between
those founder members of the defunct British empire. The
organization must be
rubbing its hands in satisfaction, metaphorically speaking, at their first truly joint
initiative. For on June 10 the CANZUK group of nations, joined by Norway,
collectively imposed sanctions on two Israeli cabinet ministers,
Itamar Ben-Gvir (Security Minister) and Bezalel Smotrich (Finance
Minister).
To be quite clear, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are
not charged with any criminal or illegal activity. According to the
document signed by the parties involved, their offense was “inciting violence
against Palestinians in the West Bank.” In other words, it was not for
anything they did, but for what they said, that sanctions were imposed.
The document proceeds to provide the
signatories’ opinion about the behavior that merited the punishment:
“Settler violence is incited by extremist rhetoric which calls for Palestinians
to be driven from their homes, encourages violence and human rights abuses and
fundamentally rejects the two-state solution.”
The CANZUK nations and Norway apparently believe that right-wing
rhetoric not only incites settler violence but, sin of sins, induces people to
reject that article of faith of the western world – the two-state solution.
Discounted, or ignored, is the fact that for nearly a century Arab leadership
has rejected umpteen opportunities to embrace a two-state solution, starting in
1937 with the Peel Commission, but including the UN’s proposal in 1947.
Most Palestinians still do not
want a two-state solution. The most recent poll of Palestinian opinion,
conducted in the first few days of May 2025, reveals that some 60% of
respondents reject the idea. What the majority want was revealed in a poll
conducted by Birzeit University in November 2023. It found that 74.7% of
Palestinians supported “a Palestinian state from the river to the sea,” that
is, across the entire land including today’s Israel, essentially eliminating
Israel’s sovereign status.
Nevertheless the West is intent on
forcing a two-state solution on them. That would
involve creating a Palestinian state sited within easy
striking distance of Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion airport, and certain to
act as a launch pad for jihadists seeking Israel’s destruction and the
slaughter of as many Jews as possible. Such considerations are ignored
or discounted.
There seems to be a
consensus that settler violence against Palestinians has been on the
increase, while government action against the perpetrators has been
inadequate. Reports in the media suggest that, since October
7, there are on average about four incidents of settler violence each
day across the West Bank.
President Isaac Herzog has
explicitly condemned the rise in extremist settler actions.
He has described
settler attacks on Palestinians as “illegal and immoral” and condemned violent,
cruel, and unrestrained riots by settlers against innocent Palestinian
residents as a sort of revenge for terrorist attacks. Herzog emphasized that
such acts contradict moral and Jewish values.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
has also publicly condemned settler violence – directed at times against the
IDF in its attempts to restore calm – but the political imperative of
maintaining the integrity of his coalition is widely believed to have held him
back from taking effective action against it. A few violent
settlers have faced legal restrictions or arrests, but the vast majority of
complaints of settler violence have not resulted in convictions.
So the issue is real, and more
needs to be done to bring it under control. But in what sense is it
the business of foreign governments? As each of the sanctioning
governments are aware, outspoken extremists from both left and right emerge
occasionally in democracies. Western governments may have no
sympathy at all with the views held passionately by right-wing Israelis, but
sanctioning two democratically elected members of the Israeli government for
giving voice to their opinions is unprecedented. The main effect of
targeting Israeli ministers will be to embolden Hamas and its fellow
jihadists.
“We remind our partners,"
said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, "not to forget who the
real enemy is.”
There are at least seven
members of the UK parliament who have consistently promulgated unsubstantiated
charges against Israel, advocated action aimed at boycotting the state, and
given comfort to those intent on eliminating Israel altogether. What
is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. The most
appropriate action the Israeli government could take in response to Britain’s
sanctions is to impose sanctions on those whose statements stir
up antisemitic violence on the streets of Europe’s major cities.
When two on-the-record anti-Israel Labour MPs – Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed – were turned back at Israel’s borders on April 5 because they had “supported campaigns aimed at boycotting the State of Israel”, what a furor there was in the UK parliament.
Britain’s Middle East minister, Hamish Falconer, opened an 80-minute debate on the matter by telling the Commons that this was “no way to treat democratically elected representatives”.
The five, calling themselves the Independent Alliance, have became a sort of anti-Israel lobby in parliament. In addition to Corbyn, the members are:
Shockat Adam: “Israel has done everything in its capacity to try and destroy any chance of Palestinian statehood — through settlement, land theft and now the wholesale decimation of Gaza.”
Adnan Hussein: “They let Gaza burn… Now let’s make Israel burn, let’s make Israel burn. We will stop their funding…”
Ayoub Khan: “The Government have done little to change the course of Israeli aggression.”
Iqbal Mohamed: “Find every brand…that has been supporting Israel and Zionism … Put the list on your fridge.”
So there are at least seven members of Britain’s parliament spreading hatred of Israel and encouraging its boycott. If sanctions on rhetoric are now the order of the day, why should Israel not declare to the world that it will no longer tolerate active advocacy of anti-Israel action? These seven, at least, might each have the sanction of persona non grata slapped on them, and be told that their presence in Israel would be unacceptable in any circumstances.
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