Only when Tony Blair popped up on the airwaves did it become clear just how different it is this time. Israel is again at war — yet, unlike 2006 there are no MPs clamouring for Parliament to be recalled. There is no Prime Minister who regards himself as a peacemaker offering his opinion to the world. Nor is there even an opposition seeking to outflank the government by using loaded phrases like ‘disproportionate response’. There is a recession on — and strong opinions on the Middle East seem to have fallen victim to the credit crunch.
When asked, Gordon Brown says he is alarmed by Israel sending troops into Gaza. But he’d rather not be asked. Such is his level of contact with Mr Blair — supposedly an international Middle East peace envoy — that he told newspapers that his predecessor was on holiday. In fact Mr Blair was heading for Jerusalem, unable to resist the vacuum created by a confused Europe, leaderless America and disinterested Britain. Blair duly said what Mr Brown should have: a ceasefire is achievable by closing down the tunnels used to smuggle weapons into Gaza underneath the supposed buffer-zone with Egypt.
Yet even Mr Blair has been keeping his distance from the Middle East, perhaps because most of his time is spent with the Faith Foundation, run by his attractive aide Ruth Turner. The road map to peace he is supposed to promote in the Middle East lies in shreds with Gaza now run by Hamas, a group devoted to Israel’s annihilation. And for those with an eye to see it, this conflict has mutated into the first act of a war that may come to define David Cameron and Barack Obama as much as Iraq does Blair and Bush.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in