Robert Stevens
Thursday saw UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak make his own visit to Israel to kiss the ring of the bloody war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu.
He followed in the footsteps of US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in pledging full support to Israel’s war of extermination against the Palestinians in Gaza, telling Netanyahu, “We want you to win.”
Landing in Tel Aviv, Sunak first held talks with Israel’s head of state President Isaac Herzog. In the face of massive opposition in Britain to Sunak’s Conservative government and the Labour Party’s support for the war crimes being carried out by Israel against Gaza—with over 150,000 demonstrating in London just six days earlier—Downing Street’s readout of the talks made out that Sunak came as a humanitarian campaigner.
Stressing as always that the “UK stands in solidarity with Israel and firmly believes in the country’s right to self-defence in line with international law,” it added, “The prime minister and President Herzog agreed on the importance of getting urgent humanitarian support to ordinary Palestinians in Gaza who are also suffering. The prime minister welcomed yesterday’s announcement that Israel would not stop aid from entering Gaza. He expressed his sincere hope that further progress could be made on delivering crucial food, water and medicine.”
It concluded, “The prime minister and President Herzog stressed the imperative need to avoid further escalation of violence in the region.”
Who does Number 10 think they are kidding? Herzog is an avowed advocate of the collective punishment being unleashed by the Israeli war machine on the Palestinian people. Sunak’s supposed “friend of peace” declared only last Friday that the entire population of Gaza were targets for destruction: “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true.”
As Sunak arrived the Israeli Defence Forces bragged it had struck “hundreds of Hamas structures” in the last day, and that it “continues to attack all the time throughout the Gaza Strip.” The human cost of this savagery is clear in Gazan health ministry figures of more than 3,500 Palestinians dead, the vast majority civilians, with 70 percent of these women, children and the elderly, and over 12,065 injured. A further 1,300 remain buried beneath destroyed buildings—among them 600 children “trapped under rubble”.
As for the “urgent humanitarian support” supposedly agreed by Israel, this was a cynical face-saving measure for Biden, amounting to just 20 trucks to feed and water a displaced population of over a million—which will not be allowed in until Friday at the earliest, if at all.
On Wednesday Netanyahu said his meeting with Biden had given Israel carte blanche to begin a land invasion and the destruction of Gaza. He boasted of winning “immense security assistance of an unprecedented scope” from the US president in support of escalating the war. “We agreed on actions that will ensure the continuation of our just war.”
Biden will have not only discussed the genocidal assault on Gaza, but how the war will be extended to target Iran and its allies Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon—reporting on the behind-the-scenes discussions with Egypt and other regional powers conducted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Sunak said during his visit to Israel: “It is important that the conflict does not escalate regionally, that’s why I am talking to as many people across the region as I can.”
What this means is that he will continue the filthy diplomacy waged by Washington in talks Friday with Saudi Arabian dictator Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other Middle Eastern leaders to ensure that the Arab states continue to give Israel a free hand in the face of rising popular opposition. Foreign Minister James Cleverly is undertaking a concurrent three-day visit to the region to include talks with leaders in Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar.
In his joint press conference appearance with Netanyahu, Sunak declared, “We will stand with you, in solidarity with your people and your right to defend yourself, to bring security back to your country, to your people, to ensure the safe return of the hostages that have been taken… You have not just a right to do that, I think you have a duty to do that, to restore that security to your country.”
The thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza were dismissed by Sunak, as he said to Netanyahu, “I know that you are taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians, in direct contrast to the terrorists of Hamas, which seek to put civilians in harm’s way.”
Of the bombing Monday of the al-Ahli hospital, he added, “The scenes over the past day have shocked all of us, particularly at the hospital, and we mourn the loss of every innocent life”, concealing the fact that the perpetrators were the Israel Defence Forces, armed to the teeth by the US and Britain, and mobilised by the war criminal he was standing beside.
Netanyahu responded, “This is our darkest hour. It is the world’s darkest hour. We need to stand together and we will win. And this is why I support, I value your support and the fact that you are here—we must win together. That means that this is a long war and we’ll need your continuous support.”
The most belligerent mouthpieces of British imperialism are demanding that Israel rapidly wipe out Gaza.
The Telegraph editorialised, “Israeli forces will need to enter the Strip and seize Gaza City, something they have threatened to do but have so far held back from. No one is under any illusion that such an offensive will be bloody, with losses on both sides, including civilians. The hospital calamity has shown that Israel will be blamed whatever it does.” It concluded, “Many in the West will be hoping for a time-limited campaign that leads to a swift and comprehensive victory rather than a long, drawn-out offensive.”
Sunak can pledge support for whatever crime Netanyahu perpetrates, knowing that when he offers “unity” between the UK and Israel he speaks for the Labour Party and all the main opposition parties. All are stained forever with the blood of Palestinian men, women and children.
Last week, they all backed Sunak in his deployment of Royal Air Force surveillance aircraft, two Royal Navy ships, three Merlin helicopters and a company of Royal Marines to the Middle East “to deliver practical support to Israel and partners in the region, and offer deterrence and assurance.” This military support is not simply to facilitate Israel’s operations against Gaza to contribute to a US-led plan for conflict with Iran, either directly or by engineering a military clash with Syria or Hezbollah.
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