Suella Braverman has hit out at the Government for “backsliding” on its support for Israel and criticised the Foreign Office for allowing a “pro-Palestine” prevailing view to take hold.
On a tour of sites attacked by Hamas on Oct 7, Mrs Braverman insisted this was not the time for Britain to “walk away” from Israel.
In a sideswipe at Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, who is reportedly threatening to cut off arms supplies, the former home secretary said she had received reassurances that Israel was not in breach of international law and was allowing aid into Gaza.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Telegraph, Mrs Braverman also said she was “ashamed” by the levels of anti-Semitism she said had gripped the UK in the wake of the Hamas massacre.
She accused the BBC of “bias”, warned against anti-Jewish attacks in the workplace and on university campuses and said that, if she had remained home secretary, she would have passed legislation to prevent “hate marches” taking place on a weekly basis.
Mrs Braverman criticised the UK for its support in passing last week the first UN Security Council resolution, which called for a ceasefire in the near six-month conflict between Israel and Hamas. The US abstained, allowing the resolution to pass.
She said: “I am angry when I see the backsliding by countries like the US and UK. This is not a time for walking away.”
Describing Hamas as a “death cult”, she added: “This is a time for strengthening our support for Israel… [Hamas] said themselves Oct 7 was only a rehearsal and they will stop at nothing to destroy Israel.
“Hamas must be eliminated. They must be totally degraded. If we don’t destroy these evil forces of terrorism, which are not just here but presenting themselves in many forms around the world, then Western civilisation faces a real threat itself.”
Lord Cameron has faced a backlash from some Tory MPs over his support for the UN resolution, but Mrs Braverman’s intervention will be likely to cause further rifts at a time when the Foreign Office and Downing Street are reportedly at odds over how to deal with the crisis.
Mrs Braverman said: “I want peace, and any civilian death is a tragedy. But we cannot have any form of ceasefire unless the hostages are released and unless and until Hamas releases itself from controlling Gaza.
“Anything else is pie in the sky, and so I was disappointed about the UK stance regarding the resolution at the UN Security Council last week.
“There are over 100 innocent Israelis who are still held captive by Hamas. And for the West to somehow appease Hamas, and to facilitate Israel’s surrender will be totally unjustifiable.”
She praised Lord Cameron for bringing “a lot of experience to the role” of Foreign Secretary but said: “What I am very concerned about is a Foreign Office establishment view taking hold of our foreign policy. And by that I mean an anti-Israel sentiment, a pro-Palestine approach to this conflict, and I think that that is very concerning.”
She said there was a “tendency” inside “the Foreign Office establishment” to “attribute an equivalence between Israeli defensive measures and the terrorism of Hamas”.
She said the Oct 7 attacks and the Israeli response “cannot be compared” and insisted Israel was using military action “in legitimate self-defence”.
Mrs Braverman, who also served as attorney general, said Israel was using “sophisticated technology to minimise civilian casualties” and had enabled “the receipt and distribution of aid into the Gaza Strip”.
She added: “To suggest that Israel is somehow impeding the operation of international law, obstructing the distribution of aid or is behaving in a way that is unlawful, does a great disservice to the battle that we are witnessing.”
Mrs Braverman suggested that, had she not been sacked by Rishi Sunak following a row over anti-Israel marches on Armistice day, she would have passed legislation that would have given ministers the power to ban protests regularly taking place in London.
“I actually think that, had there been a more robust approach in the early days of those marches, we would not be seeing this phenomenon of mass extremism out on our streets, unprecedented levels of anti-Semitism on our streets, the routine harassment and racism,” she said.
Mrs Braverman, whose husband is Jewish, said the UK was now seeing “unprecedented levels” of anti-Semitism, which made her feel “ashamed”.
She said: “I feel heartbroken when I meet Jewish people in the UK who feel scared to go into London on the weekend, to feel that they can’t show their Star of David, demonstrate symbols of their faith when they are being harassed on campus, when they are being harassed in the workplace, when they see misreporting, bias within the BBC.”
Mrs Braverman’s trip has been funded by the National Jewish Assembly, a subscription body set up to support Israel and fight anti-Semitism.
Gary Mond, the chairman of the National Jewish Assembly, described Mrs Braverman as “a true friend of Israel and of the UK Jewish community”, adding: “This visit will enable her to bear witness to the atrocities of Oct 7 and convey the UK’s support for Israel’s mission to eradicate Hamas and bring the hostages home.”
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