My worries about the British Government's worsening support for Israel

I am worried about what appears to be a weakening of support for Israel by the British Government.  As the JC reports due to the visit of Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas, the British Government seems to be increasingly critical  of Israel and the building of homes in the West Bank, with the Deputy Prime Minister calling these buildings 'vandalism'.


Settlements are of course an issue in any peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, but definitely 


not the crucial issue as previous negotiations which the Palestinians have rejected has shown before. 


I certainly hope the negotiations which restarted a couple of weeks ago are eventually able to succeed.


The British Government should remember even current Government in Israel led by Benjamin Netanyahu 


which was supported (and probably is still supported) by more than a majority of the population, froze 


settlement building for more than 10 months, but still the Palestinians refused to negotiate.. 


The Israeli Government is only continuing the established policy of the past 40 years where the settlements (or 


as I prefer to call them towns where ordinary people live) need to have further development as any town 


across the world requires.


This majority supported position in Israel a democratic decision (isn't that what the world is calling for across 


the Middle East) continues to support people living in and building their homes in existing towns, until the 


Palestinians agree to stop trying to kill Jewish people and recognise our State as the Jewish homeland. When 


that is achieved than peace will be possible.  So the British Government should stop condemning house 


building and pressure the Palestinians to recognise that Israel is a Jewish State which they should accept and 


negotiate with.  

The world can not support a Palestinian leadership encouraging terrorism and condemning the assassination of Osama Bin Ladin

This week's agreement between Fatah and Hamas to share the Palestinian leadership has once again shown that they prefer Arab dominance in the Middle East over peace with Israel.  Not only is the Palestinian leadership rejecting peace negotiations with Israel and denying the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish State, but the Hamas leadership which continues to support war against Israel, also condemned the assassination of Osama Bin Ladin.
 
Therefore at a time when the West needs to continue to be aware of Arab and Islamic fundamentalism, and to support pro-democracy protests in the Arab world, it also needs to continue to support Israel as a bastion of democracy in the real world.

As we in Israel get ready to celebrate the State of Israel's 63rd birthday, and the Palestinian leadership's attempt to get the United Nations to support a Palestinian State, it is time for the world to show they support Israel a country that wants to live in peace.  The world therefore needs to show that they do not support any kind of terrorist activity and say that they will they not support a Palestinian State with out a true peace deal with Israel.  The world must also say that they will not deal with the Palestinian leadership while its includes Hamas, while it is embarked on a war with Israel, which it still does not exist.

Thankfully it appears the United States will continue to support Israel and not deal with the Palestinian leadership that includes terrorists such as Hamas.  I hope Britain and the European Union can follow this lead.