An Israeli government minister has said Western leaders must be held to account for emboldening “the forces of terror” through “appeasement” after two embassy staffers were gunned down in Washington D.C..
Israel’s Minister for the Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli named the United Kingdom’s Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and newly installed Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney after the killing of two Israeli embassy staff in the United States outside the Washington D.C. Jewish Museum.
Chikli said “irresponsible leaders” were backing hatred that turns into violence “through appeasement, double standards, or silence”. He said: “French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have all, in different ways, emboldened the forces of terror through their failure to draw moral red lines.”
Ultimately the price paid for emboldening anti-Israel activists is “Jewish blood”, he said, and those Western leaders “who give backing to this hatred” should be held to account.
Chikli was more obliging about the U.S. reponse to what he called a terrorist attack, saying: “I want to thank President Donald Trump for his swift and unequivocal condemnation of this heinous act, and for stating clearly that this was an antisemitic hate crime that has no place in the United States”.
The response to Wednesday’s killings in D.C. is not the first time Chikli has had cross words for Britain’s Sir Keir Starmer, who has presided over a decided cooling of relations with Israel since his Labour Party took power from the Conservatives last year. The Jewish Chronicle reported in February that Chikli had branded Starmer a “pathetic doormat”.
The United Kingdom and France are both moving towards recognising Palestine as a state. On Tuesday, Starmer, Macron, and Carney issued a joint statement threatening “concrete actions” if Israel didn’t cease its military offensive and allow unrestricted aid into Gaza. The offensive was launched after the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack that killed nearly 1,200 people.
Prime Minister Netanyahu replied to the statement, saying the nations were handing Hamas a “huge prize” with their comments. He warned, further, that such acts by trying to curtail the war before Hamas is defeated, invites “more atrocities”.
Read the full article here