Israel is a true ally – it’s time Boris remembered that

Boris Johnson has described himself as ‘a passionate defender of Israel’ and, what’s more, ‘a life-long friend, admirer and supporter of Israel’. He says the UK ‘has always stood by Israel and its right to live, as any nation should be able to, in peace and security’. That recognition that the Jewish state should be treated like every other does not, however, extend to a very basic courtesy: we refuse to recognise its capital and place our embassy there.

There is a UK embassy in the capital of China, inflicter of coronavirus and mass incarcerator of Uyghurs. There is a UK embassy in the capital of Iran, one of the world’s leading state sponsors of terrorism. There is even a UK embassy in the capital of North Korea, a slave state and the closest thing to hell on earth. In Israel, however, the Foreign Office maintains the fiction that Tel Aviv is the capital and hides away our embassy there because admitting the truth would be too painful for the activist-diplomats of King Charles Street.