The National Jewish Assembly urges the UK government and responsible elements of civil society to recognise a stark truth: in its war with Iran, Israel is not merely defending itself. It is buying time – for us all.
For over two decades, Western democracies have indulged the Islamic Republic of Iran with talks, accords, and concessions. We got the JCPOA. They got centrifuges, missile technology, and more hostages. Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, has metastasised its malign influence through Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, militias in Iraq and Syria, and Hamas in Gaza – all while expanding its footprint in Europe, including cells and sympathisers in the UK.
We have allowed this regime to operate as if there are no consequences. Until now.
Israel’s targeted strikes on nuclear and military assets in Iran mark a decisive rupture in that pattern of permissiveness. For years, policymakers have whispered about the “breakout time” for Iran’s nuclear weapon. But when Israel acted to roll back that existential threat – one the IAEA itself warned of just weeks ago – the UK’s immediate instinct was to ask “both sides” to de-escalate. As if we were dealing with a dispute between rival football clubs, rather than a genocidal theocracy and a liberal democracy fighting for its survival.
There is no moral equivalence here. Israel has done what Britain and the West failed to do: hold Iran accountable. The UK must now step forward with more than equivocations and jet-fuelled symbolism. Strategic alignment with Israel should include robust political backing, intelligence sharing, and stronger action against Iranian proxy operations on British soil.
British Jewry, too, must see through the fog of performative neutrality. Iran is not just a threat to Tel Aviv. It is a threat to London, Manchester, and every city where Islamist ideologues exploit Western freedoms to erode them from within.
To stand with Israel now is not an act of favouritism. It is a defence of liberal civilisation itself. Anything less is appeasement. And history has already judged where that path leads.
