Israel's Netanyahu hails 'historic' election victory for Boris Johnson

Netanyahu praised Boris Johnson and said his election victory was a 'great day' for UK-Israel relations.
2 min read
13 December, 2019
Netanyahu congratulated Boris Johnson on the Conservative Party's election victory. [Getty]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday congratulated Boris Johnson on the Conservative Party's "historic victory" in the UK's General Election.

"Congratulations my friend Boris Johnson on your historic victory. This is a great day for the people of Great Britain and for the friendship between us," Netanyahu tweeted with a photo of the two leaders shaking hands in London.

Earlier, Israel's foreign minister called the defeat of Labour a "milestone in the fight against hatred".

Read more: 9 times the UK's Conservative Party were shockingly Islamophobic and got away with it

"The spectre of anti-Semitism loomed large over this campaign, and the British public overwhelmingly voted against it, in what is, in our opinion, a testament to British history and values," Israel Katz said.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-war campaigner and has been a vocal critic of Israeli policies towards Palestinians.

The Labour manifesto promised to "immediately recognise the state of Palestine," and to suspend arms sales "used in violation of the human rights of Palestinian civilians".

But he has also been dogged by accusations, which resurfaced during the campaign, that he had turned a blind eye to growing anti-Semitism within the party.

Corbyn supporters counter that the 70-year-old is a lifelong opponent of racism in all its forms and was targeted because of his longstanding support for the Palestinian cause.

The Conservative party has also faced accusations of anti-Semitism. A week before the election, three parliamentary candidates were facing calls to be suspended.

Sally-Ann Hart, who was elected as the new MP for Hastings and Rye, had shared a video with an image implying that billionaire George Soros, who is Jewish, controls the EU.

She also liked a Nazi slogan on Facebook, according to the Guardian.

Two other Conservative MPs were also being investigated.

Lee Anderson was reportedly an active member of a Facebook group peddling Soros conspiracy theories, while another, Richard Short, asked a Jewish journalist whether he was more loyal to Britain or Israel.

Boris Johnson has himself also been accused of anti-Semitism in a book he wrote, where he described "Jewish oligarchs" running the media and described a Jewish character as having a "proud nose and curly hair".

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