Transcript [00:00] ethnic cleansing carried out by settler [00:02] terrorists. How on earth has that been [00:04] received in Israel? [00:06] >> This is an extremely tragic development. [00:08] There are no winners in a diplomatic [00:10] fight between Britain and Israel, except [00:13] for the Labour Party that has to appease [00:15] its own Gaza first constituency. And [00:17] everyone understands that's exactly what [00:19] is driving this extraordinary attack by [00:22] Britain on a major strategic partner. [00:25] Let's remember Israel supplies 8% of [00:28] Britain's weapons, one in seven NHS [00:30] drugs. And this is the country that Ed [00:32] Miliband has just decided to declare [00:34] diplomatic war against. Uh breaking news [00:37] right now in the last few minutes, [00:39] Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar [00:41] has announced Israel's own punitive [00:43] response to Israel. He's announced that [00:46] Israel will shut Britain's consulate in [00:48] Jerusalem, which functions as the de [00:50] facto embassy to the Palestinian [00:53] Authority, that Israel will expel the [00:55] British military officers at the [00:57] coordination center that looks at plans [01:00] for post-war in Gaza, and that it will [01:02] prevent the entry of certain British MPs [01:05] who have been pushing this implacably [01:07] hostile policy towards Israel. This is a [01:10] pointless fight. There are no winners, [01:12] and one can only hope that wiser heads [01:14] or men in gray suits will prevail and [01:17] restore some sanity. [01:19] >> Eylon, for those of us here in Britain [01:22] who felt this was an empty virtue [01:24] signal, or as you say there, to appease [01:25] the hemorrhaging votes towards the Green [01:27] Party, you're saying this is something [01:29] also got a more serious It sounds from [01:31] what you're telling us here, from what [01:33] the Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar is [01:35] announcing, it's turning into something [01:36] of a full-blown diplomatic incident. [01:40] >> This is a full-blown diplomatic [01:41] incident. That is the icing on the cake [01:44] of two years of a very hostile agenda [01:48] led by Labour governments, Starmer and [01:50] Burnham alike. I mean, let's recount [01:52] them. There was the recognition of a [01:54] non-existent Palestinian state in a [01:57] response to October 7th, a step that [02:00] encouraged Hamas to keep holding on to [02:02] those hostages and torturing them [02:05] because Britain conditioned it on the [02:07] war carrying on, the resumption of [02:09] funding to UNRWA, the UN agency whose [02:12] staff took part in the October 7th [02:14] massacre, the suspension of arms [02:17] licenses for Israel, sanctions on [02:20] Israeli ministers, ending free trade [02:22] negotiations with Israel at a time that [02:24] Britain wants to expand its markets. [02:26] This is part of a pattern of a Labour [02:28] party that was spooked by nearly losing [02:31] so many seats to Gaza independence, that [02:33] has decided the only thing that brings [02:35] the parliamentary Labour party together [02:37] is to bash Israel. It will help them in [02:39] the polls. It's not going to help [02:40] Britain. [02:41] >> It's worth recounting, repeating that Ed [02:45] Miliband did say that the Labour [02:47] government has no problem with Israel or [02:49] the people of Israel. He was attempting [02:52] to say this was with a narrow band of [02:54] terrorists on the West Bank, but you're [02:57] saying it's been perceived in a far [02:58] broader context than that. [03:01] >> If Ed Miliband were talking about [03:03] limited sanctions against extremist [03:06] settlers who've been responsible for [03:08] some of the really horrific violence [03:09] against Palestinian civilians, that [03:11] would be one thing. Instead, we saw a [03:14] raft of sanctions against Israel's [03:17] settlements, Israel's communities in [03:19] Judea and Samaria. Instead, we're seeing [03:21] Ed Miliband saying that Britain supports [03:24] South Africa's absurd genocide case at [03:28] the ICJ. I want to be clear why this is [03:30] fueling domestic political violence [03:33] within Britain. There is an extremist [03:36] movement in Britain that is smashing up [03:38] RAF planes, smashing up defense [03:40] factories, taking over the streets of [03:42] central London every week, that has been [03:45] whipped up into a frenzy by this moral [03:47] panic. And instead of the Labour party [03:49] staring them down and saying, "You are [03:52] wrong. No, Israel didn't commit [03:53] genocide. It responded to a barbaric [03:55] terrorist organization that kidnapped [03:57] babies. Israel is a strategic partner. [04:00] It's telling the mobs on the streets of [04:02] Britain, well, you kind of have a point. [04:04] And that is why Israel sees this as [04:06] being such an extreme and egregious step [04:09] by Britain. It was warning that if [04:11] Britain takes this hostile step, there [04:13] will be a response. And it's very [04:15] saddening that wiser heads did not [04:17] prevail and the Labour government is [04:19] going ahead with this to appease the [04:21] Gaza independence and at least get the [04:23] grumpy parliamentary Labour Party to [04:24] agree on something. [04:26] >> And Eylon Levy, just to repeat the the [04:29] news that you broke to us. Now, you're [04:31] you're ahead of the curve here, my [04:32] friend, but it is now being confirmed by [04:34] international media. Breaking news, [04:36] Israel to close UK consulate in [04:38] Jerusalem and says UK criticism is [04:41] outrageous and false. Just to repeat [04:44] that breaking news brought you first [04:46] there by Eylon Levy now confirmed in the [04:48] world's media. Breaking news, Israel to [04:50] close the UK consulate in Jerusalem and [04:53] says UK criticism is outrageous and [04:56] false. Eylon, need to bring you back on [04:58] on that point. How how serious is this? [05:01] I mean, [05:02] we see [05:03] diplomats being exposed, but we've [05:06] always had a very very good and [05:08] honorable relationship with Israel [05:09] historically. This is unprecedented, is [05:11] it not? [05:12] >> Britain's consulate in Jerusalem, [05:14] Israel's capital city, is the de facto [05:17] embassy to the Palestinian Authority. [05:19] While Britain refuses to recognize [05:21] Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the [05:23] embassy is located right here in Tel [05:26] Aviv. They maintained a diplomatic [05:28] mission to the Palestinians in the heart [05:30] of Israel's capital city. And Israel was [05:32] always very wary of telling the Britain [05:34] telling the British this isn't the place [05:36] to have your diplomatic mission because [05:38] of the fear of a backlash. Well, Britain [05:41] has just decided to unveil some very [05:44] hostile actions against Israel. And [05:47] Israel is saying, "We are not the [05:48] punching bag of the parliamentary Labour [05:51] Party. If Labour is going to take steps [05:53] that are going to embolden our enemies, [05:56] embolden the terrorists, undermine our [05:58] sovereignty, then we're going to have to [06:00] respond. We warned you we didn't want to [06:02] go here, but Labour has decided [06:05] pig-headedly, foolishly to go down this [06:07] path, and this is Israel's response." [06:10] >> And Eylon, we're hearing, of course, [06:12] this this was a three-way communique [06:15] that France and Canada will also join [06:17] the UK in imposing sanctions on the [06:20] Israeli settlements. Are you expecting [06:22] the rhetoric to be heating up from [06:24] Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar and the [06:26] actions that he took? Perhaps France and [06:28] Canada might also face some action if [06:30] they follow Admiral Ben-Shabbat's lead? [06:33] >> Britain, France, and Canada, these are [06:34] the countries that last year recognized [06:36] a non-existent Palestinian state in [06:39] response to the October 7th massacre. [06:41] That while Hamas was still torturing and [06:43] raping hostages in the tunnels under [06:45] Gaza, told Hamas that if the war keeps [06:48] dragging on and they keep holding on to [06:50] the hostages, then they'll recognize [06:52] that non-existent Palestinian state. [06:54] That intervention was an absolute [06:56] disaster. And we're seeing now a [06:58] continuation of a policy in all three [07:00] countries to appease a radical base at [07:03] the expense of a strategic partnership [07:05] with an ally like Israel. And I [07:07] certainly imagine that Israel will be [07:09] looking at expelling those [07:10] representatives from the coordination [07:13] center [07:14] that oversees Gaza, and will be looking [07:16] into other steps against those countries [07:18] to make it clear we are not your [07:20] punching bag. We want to work with you. [07:23] We want to sell you our amazing defense [07:25] technology and our pharmaceuticals and [07:27] our high-tech. We want to work with you [07:29] on improving prosperity for both our [07:31] but we're not going to sit here and be [07:33] your punching bag as you try to appease [07:35] the radicals on your own street. [07:37] >> Okay, well, listen, thank you very much [07:38] for joining us, uh, former Israeli [07:40] government spokesperson Eylon Levy. [07:43] Thank you for bringing that breaking [07:44] news. Let's repeat it. As you're tuning [07:46] in to GB News this afternoon, the [07:47] breaking news is this dramatic drama. [07:50] Israel to close the UK consulate in [07:52] Jerusalem. It says the UK criticism of [07:55] Israel is outrageous and false. [07:57] Unconfirmation there from Eylon Levy. [08:00] Potentially, [08:01] Canada and France could face similar [08:03] actions if they double down on what [08:06] Husam Zomlot said today in parliament. [08:09] An astonishing We can explore it more on [08:11] that throughout the rest of the show. [08:12] And also, still to come today, as the [08:14] row over so-called balaclava clan thugs
