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Ynetnews by Yaniv Halily:
13.12.16
For the full article go
to: http://tinyurl.com/jd8b7hs
LONDON
- British Prime Minister Theresa May delivered a staunchly pro-Israel speech
Monday during which she declared her government’s unwavering support for
Israel, proclaimed her unequivocal opposition to boycotts and reiterated her
commitment to expunging anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial from British
society.
Speaking at the
annual Conservative Friends of Israel lunch, May announced her intention to make
her country one of the first in the world to adopt an international definition of anti-Semitism and
to clamp down on hate crime after an increase in the number of reported incidents targeting Jews.
Speaking to
more than 800 guests, May described the 1917 Balfour Declaration—Britain’s
pledge to create a Jewish state in Palestine—as “one of the most important
letters in history" before stating her believe that the two-state
solution, for two peoples brought about by direct negotiations, “without
preconditions” offered the only plausible blueprint for a peaceful resolution
to the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians.
May lauded
Israel as “a thriving democracy, a beacon of tolerance, an engine of enterprise
and an example to the rest of the world for overcoming adversity and defying
disadvantages.”
Recalling her
experiences during a 2014 visit to Israel, the prime minister added that “it is
only when you walk through Jerusalem or Tel Aviv that you see a country where
people of all religions and sexualities are free and equal in the eyes of the
law.”
May also acknowledged
Israel’s disproportionate impact on the world: “It is only when you travel
across the country that you realise it is only the size of Wales—and appreciate
even more the impact it has on the world.”
Citing the
kidnapping and murder of Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrah in 2014,
she said “it is only when you witness Israel’s vulnerability that you see the
constant danger Israelis face, as I did during my visit.”
After heaping
praise on Israel’s life-saving work around the world, from Nepal to Haiti, and
paying homage to Israel’s late former President Shimon Peres, May assured her
listeners that “no British taxpayers’ money will be used to make payments to
terrorists or their families.”
May then
addressed anti-Semitism in British society and announced her much anticipated
promise to adopt an international definition.
“That means there will be one
definition of anti-Semitism – in essence, language or behaviour that displays
hatred towards Jews because they are Jews – and anyone guilty of that will be
called out on it.”
In a
similar vein, she also pledged to continue her predecessor’s (David Cameron)
vision to build a National Memorial to the Holocaust next to Parliament.
May then
turned her focus to British Labour Party, expressing her disgust with
anti-Semitic elements within it and what she described as its hard-left allies.
Furthermore, she ridiculed the UK Labour Party's deputy leader, Tom Watson who broke out singing Am Yisrael Chai ("The
people of Israel live") at a recent annual Labour Friends of Israel (LFI)
lunch.
“No
amount of karaoke can make up for turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism, May
insisted. “No matter what Labour say—or sing—they cannot ignore what has been
happening in their party.”
May’s
government already began backing up her stated commitment to countering
anti-Semitism with the announcement on the same day that a British
neo-Nazi group would become the first of its kind to be banned under the
country's new anti-terror laws, with Interior Minister Amber Rudd branding it
Monday as "racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic."
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