Harold Macmillan once remarked that: ‘There are three bodies no sensible man ever directly challenges: the Roman Catholic Church, the Brigade of Guards and the National Union of Mineworkers.’ Today it’s tempting to add a fourth name to this list: the Conservative Friends of Israel.
The CFI counts an estimated 80 per cent of Tory MPs among its members. It can whistle up cabinet ministers for its dinners and has superb access to Downing Street and Whitehall.
This week, the CFI pulled off what looks like yet another coup with the remarkably muted British government reaction to Israel’s killing of approximately 60 and wounding of more than 2,500 Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border.
Belgium and Ireland have called in their Israeli ambassadors for a dressing down. South Africa and Turkey have recalled their ambassadors to Israel. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson and Middle East minister Alistair Burt urged restraint but were careful to blame ‘extremist elements’ among the Palestinians for exploiting protests ‘for their own violent purposes’.
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