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| Faltering but genuine words |
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GORDON BROWN meant well during his visit to Israel this week. His performance behind the microphone was less-than-convincing, but the Prime Minister is no Tony Blair or Bill Clinton. He is an undoubted friend of Israel and he tried hard to articulate that fact, albeit in a stuttering, unanimated manner. But that is what we have come to expect in the Commons. Brown was brought up in a religious household, the son of a Christian clergyman who visited Israel countless times, imbuing his love of the Jewish state in his young family.
Brown has told at every available opportunity of the cine films of Israel that his father used to show - images which fostered in him a curiosity which he was able himself to satisfy by visiting Israel before he became PM and now as premier. He has even vowed to take his own children to the country so that they themselves can enjoy the unique religious experience that only Israel can offer. Brown left Israel in no doubt that Britain would not tolerate any real threats from Iran or elsewhere and would not accept acts of terrorism by the Palestinians. At the same time, he reinforced Britain's insistence that the building of settlements had to cease and advocated the two-state solution. In effect, nothing has changed since Tony Blair was in office. Brown's words very much echoed those of his predecessor and indeed those of US President George Bush. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister was unequivocal and Israel knows that she continues to enjoy the unwavering support and protection of her two strongest allies, Britain and America. That can only augur well, given the repeated nuclear threats emanating from Teheran. Were Israel to strike at the heart of Iran's nuclear production, the feeling is increasingly that London and Washington would not only support such action but might even assist in such a preventative measure.
E-MAIL: editor@jewishtelegraph.com
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