Transcript [00:00] Is anyone surprised at the same [00:01] government that can never find enough [00:02] money for welfare, but is still pouring [00:04] money into the Palestinian education [00:06] system that produced the October 7th [00:08] monsters, that it is prioritizing [00:10] welfare over Britain's own defense is [00:13] going to play so fast and loose with one [00:15] of Britain's major strategic [00:16] partnerships. It just beggars belief [00:19] that in order to bring the parliamentary [00:21] Labour Party together to win Holborn and [00:23] St. Pancras, to shore up the Gaza [00:25] firsters in Labour swing seats, that [00:27] they're willing to put dynamite [00:29] underneath one of Britain's major [00:31] strategic partnerships. [00:32] >> no moral aspect to this? Because there [00:35] is no doubt that there are settlers [00:37] who've been involved in violence in the [00:39] West Bank. They have put people out of [00:41] their homes. I know the Israeli [00:43] government, Israeli security forces have [00:44] cracked down on that, but clearly [00:46] there's an issue here. Is that just not [00:48] part of this at all in your view? [00:50] >> I do not want to minimize for a moment [00:53] the vigilantism and extremism we have [00:55] seen from a very small minority of [00:57] settlers in Judea and Samaria. The [00:59] Israeli government needs to take that [01:00] issue much more seriously and crack down [01:03] much better than it's been doing to [01:05] date. But that is not a reason for the [01:07] British government to place sanctions on [01:10] a major strategic partner, that I'll [01:12] remind you, is the second biggest [01:14] supplier of Britain's defense tech, that [01:17] provides one in seven NHS drugs, that [01:20] provides critical intelligence that has [01:22] saved countless British lives. [01:25] >> all of all of that's true, [01:26] but [01:27] all of that's true, but a lot of that [01:28] are not from the settlements, the [01:30] generic drugs, for example, absolutely [01:32] fundamental to this country, no doubt [01:34] about that. Mobile phone technology, I [01:36] mean, there's so many ways that the [01:38] Israelis have contributed to to global [01:40] technology, to pharmaceuticals, to so [01:42] many things, defense, as you say. How [01:45] practical is it to actually say from [01:48] this country's side, we're going to [01:50] boycott things from we're going to [01:51] boycott goods from the settlements? I [01:53] mean, is that actually even a practical [01:55] thing? [01:56] >> Well, here it's not clear whether this [01:58] policy announcement is a complete dud, [02:01] it's just symbolic and it's sending [02:03] absolutely the wrong message that will [02:05] inflame sectarianism in the UK, or [02:08] whether this will have a chilling effect [02:10] that will amount to a de facto trade ban [02:13] with Israel altogether. What does it [02:15] mean that you're going to boycott [02:17] companies that are involved in the [02:19] settlements? When that means what? All [02:21] Israeli construction, all banking, every [02:24] part of the Israeli economy? The Labour [02:26] Party has clearly decided to burn its [02:28] bridges with Israel at the expense of [02:31] Britain's own national security and [02:33] prosperity. [02:34] >> think [02:35] >> Do you think security [02:36] >> Do you think security will be part of [02:37] this? I mean, we've seen some reason I [02:39] mean, serious. I'm not I'm not [02:41] trivializing them at all, but closing a [02:43] consulate and saying that, you know, [02:44] Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott can't [02:46] come to Israel. I don't think they were [02:48] going to be going to too many nightclubs [02:50] in Tel Aviv to be brutally frank. Uh but [02:53] nonetheless, those are measures that [02:55] have been taken. No members of the [02:56] government banned from Israel here in [02:58] the UK, for example. But nonetheless, do [03:01] you really think the national security [03:02] aspect is a factor here? Are Mossad and [03:04] Shin Bet going to be saying, "No, [03:06] actually, we're not going to share [03:07] intelligence with you?" [03:09] >> The last time that Jeremy Corbyn visited [03:12] Israel, he did it to meet members of [03:14] Hamas. I actually scooped that as a [03:15] journalist myself, and I'm surprised he [03:17] didn't have an entry ban on him today. [03:20] >> Mhm. [03:20] >> But look, if Britain relies on Israel [03:23] for so much intelligence and defense [03:25] technology, why would you put that [03:27] country at risk when it is telling you, [03:30] "This is prejudicial to our interests. [03:32] This is emboldening the terrorists. This [03:34] is emboldening the extremists." Why [03:37] would you force a country that is [03:38] already overextended and trying to help [03:41] its allies with critical intelligence [03:43] deal with more and more threats when [03:45] it's telling you, "This is bad for our [03:47] security." So, absolutely, undermining a [03:50] key strategic partner will be [03:52] detrimental for British security [03:54] interests. And it's important that the [03:56] Israeli foreign minister in that phone [03:58] call yesterday with Kemi Badenoch and [04:01] Tom Tugendhat together said, "We have [04:04] nothing against the British people. [04:05] They're still our friends. This is a [04:07] disastrous Labour government that has [04:09] spent two years treating Israel as its [04:12] punching bag, and we've had enough." [04:14] >> Yeah, it's interesting you mentioned [04:15] what Gideon Saar said there. Let's just [04:18] hear what he has been saying. He's the [04:20] foreign minister of Israel. [04:22] >> In light of all this, I have decided, as [04:26] stated with the agreement of Prime [04:27] Minister Netanyahu, on the following [04:30] Israeli countermeasures. [04:32] One, [04:33] the closure of the British consulate in [04:36] Jerusalem. [04:37] United Jerusalem is the capital of [04:40] Israel, [04:41] will always remain the capital of [04:43] Israel, and is under its full [04:46] sovereignty. [04:48] Any activity by a foreign state within [04:50] it must be carried out with the consent [04:54] of the state of Israel. [04:56] Any foreign activity in the area must be [04:59] conducted through accepted and agreed [05:02] channels, and without violating Israel's [05:05] sovereignty. [05:07] >> Eylon, we know the Israeli election is [05:09] happening on the 27th of October, so six [05:13] or seven weeks away. [05:15] I do wonder, will this embolden the far [05:17] right in Israel? We also have the [05:19] prospect of an election in the [05:21] Palestinian territories in November as [05:24] well. I just wonder, is there anybody [05:26] noticing this necessarily in Israel? Are [05:28] they simply saying, "Well, this is just [05:29] another country that doesn't like us of [05:31] the other 11 that have imposed sanctions [05:33] within the last 48 hours"? [05:36] >> No, frankly, it's bewildering that the [05:37] Labour government would come to the aid [05:39] of Israel's far right just before the [05:42] election. [05:43] >> what they've done? [05:43] >> If Britain believes If If Britain [05:45] believes that Israel is not taking the [05:47] issue of settler violence seriously, and [05:49] that's a valid complaint, wait 6 weeks [05:52] and see what happens with an election [05:53] when the opposition parties are [05:55] promising a crackdown on law and order. [05:57] But to step in at this point, to feed [06:00] the siege mentality, to create an [06:02] external enemy that shouldn't exist [06:04] because Israel and Britain are strategic [06:06] partners and have so much to do [06:08] together, is as the foreign minister [06:10] said, a blatantly dimension in Israel's [06:12] election and not in support of the [06:15] people I am sure the British government [06:16] would like to see taking power. [06:19] >> Eylon, thank you very much for speaking [06:20] to us this afternoon. That's Eylon Levy [06:22] there. He is a former spokesman for the [06:23] Israeli Prime Minister speaking to us [06:25] here on Talk Drive. Shawn's been in [06:27] touch from Bridlington and says Burnham [06:29] couldn't prevent his raging Jew hate [06:31] from spewing out even though he wasn't [06:33] even asked about it, says Shawn. Yule in [06:35] Ballymena says Andy Burnham was correct. [06:36] We cannot cut the benefit
