A friend of Jews
Sunak, the first British Prime Minister of colour and its first Hindu leader and the youngest PM in 200 years, has hailed Israel as a "shining beacon of hope".
Rishi Sunak, who is the new British Prime Minister after becoming Conservative party leader on Monday, is considered a strong supporter of Israel and a friend of the UK’s Jewish community.
At a Conservative Friends of Israel event in August, Sunak declared Jerusalem is “indisputably the historic capital” of Israel and that there was a “very strong case” for moving the UK embassy from its current location in Tel Aviv.
“It’s something I’d like to do,” he said.
But Sunak, a former Treasury chief, also acknowledged “sensitivities” over the issue.
“If it was that easy, it would have been done by now,” he said.
Also over the northern summer, Sunak hailed Israel as a “shining beacon of hope” in an interview with the Jewish Chronicle. And when writing for the UK Jewish News, he stated his opposition to the boycott movement.
“I will continue to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Bill, that will prevent public bodies engaging in boycotts that undermine community cohesion,” he wrote in July.
“The Jewish community is right to call out those who seek to damage the only Jewish state in the world.”
Sunak voiced concern over a rise in antisemitic incidents in the first half of 2021.
“This is not an issue to be equivocal about: everyone across Parliament and the country must take a robust position on eliminating antisemitism, and I am determined to ensure this scourge on our society is eradicated,” he said.
Sunak is the first British Prime Minister of colour and its first Hindu leader – a milestone for a country with an extensive colonial past, and one that is still contested. At 42 he is also Britain’s youngest PM in 200 years.
The challenges facing Sunak, the UK’s third PM this year, are enormous: he must try to shore up an economy sliding toward recession and reeling after his predecessor’s brief, disastrous experiment in libertarian economics, while also attempting to unite a demoralised and divided party that trails far behind the opposition in opinion polls.
TIMES OF ISRAEL, AP
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