The National Jewish Assembly (NJA) condemns the Foreign Secretary’s decision to freeze trade negotiations with Israel – a move as self-defeating as it is unserious.
With this one gesture, David Lammy has succeeded in undermining Britain’s economic interests, its moral credibility, and its strategic alignment with the only liberal democracy in the Middle East. At a time when British businesses are crying out for growth and investment, the government has chosen to grandstand. The result? A policy that damages us, strengthens our enemies, and signals to the world that Britain’s foreign policy is once again being dictated by sentiment, not strategy.
When a country is praised by the very terrorist group it has under proscription – a terrorist group that carried out the October 7 invasion and still holds civilians hostage – then that country’s leadership is devoid of a moral compass.
Mr Lammy claims to be horrified by Israeli military operations. One wonders whether he is equally disturbed by the rape, murder and abduction of Israeli civilians – or by the fact that Hamas continues to hold hostages underground while stealing international aid. Curiously, he finds no words of outrage for that.
This suspension of trade talks is not a principled stand. It is a performance – designed not to change the reality on the ground, but to gratify the ideological instincts of a certain audience at home. A policy driven not by justice or law, but by the now-familiar spectacle of selective outrage.
Israel is not perfect. No country at war is. But it remains a state governed by law, surrounded by actors that seek its annihilation. To punish it, and not the jihadists who made this war inevitable, is moral inversion of the highest order.
NJA Chairman Gary Mond said: “This is foreign policy by Twitter feed. Mr Lammy has traded seriousness for sanctimony. Instead of strengthening ties with one of our closest allies, he’s thrown his lot in with the campaigners who chant for intifada on our streets. This is not leadership. It’s surrender disguised as diplomacy.”
The NJA urges the government to reconsider this deranged move, reject the politics of performance, and return to the principles of partnership, free trade and democratic solidarity.
