Prime Ministerial meeting 2011 (Jewish Chronicle)

A quick update to the previous post wherein I drew to a close by referring to David Cameron’s criticism of Israel’s settlements around East Jerusalem. The British PM is a friend of Israel yet answered a Parliamentary Question about conditions in Jerusalem in a highly critical vein (see Independent).

According to The Jerusalem Post, Bibi’s brief response during a political gathering was to remind everyone of Cameron’s undoubted friendship and said Europe should remember that Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem prevents Islamic State and Hamas from burning holy sites in the capital, as they have done elsewhere. In addition to that prevention he said, “only Israeli sovereignty ensures Arab residents of the city have roads, clinics, places of employment and all the other means of normal life that their brothers do not enjoy throughout the Middle East”.

Jerusalem’s mayor Nir Barkat was the first official to respond to Cameron’s criticism with several detailed corrections about the city and its organisation and which may be read in that JP article. Also, ‘Barkat took the PA and surrounding Muslim countries to task for not meaningfully aiding their own people, while the Israeli government has provided a far higher standard of living for Arab residents’.

In closing let’s note the British Government’s commendable action against BDS (Boycott Divestment & Sanctions) movement by issuing guidance preventing public bodies from imposing a boycott on a member of the World Trade Organization to which Israel belongs. According to Melanie Philips local boycotts breach the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, which demands that all suppliers are treated equally. (Her Facebook has in-depth report. See also Carolyn Glick in my Europe’s…illegal trade war on Israel.)