Theresa Villiers has backed the "Pledge for Israel" campaign from the group. She has signed up to the following four commitments from the group "We believe in Israel":
- To oppose the extremists who challenge Israel's right to exist.
- To support the right of people in the United Kingdom to enjoy Israeli culture and promote business, educational, religious and other connections with the Jewish State without fear of discrimination, boycotts, harassment and/or intimidation.
- To support those who genuinely seek to promote and establish a permanent, just and comprehensive peace between Israel and its neighbours.
- To support the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
- To encourage HM Government to promote trade with Israel that will increase investment and jobs for people in both countries.
- To encourage HM Government to tackle the destabilising impact of Iran across the Middle East.
This is the response she is sending to voters who have asked her to back the pledge, setting out her views and track record on supporting Israel and the Jewish community:
"I have a track record going back many years of supporting the Jewish community and Israel. I have been a member of Conservative Friends of Israel for over two decades and I have repeatedly spoken out against antisemitism. I have been even more active and vocal since the horrors of 7th October took place.
I was one of the first Parliamentarians to sound the alarm bell about misuse of aid money by the Palestinian Authority, back in the 2000s, and I have demanded that UK aid never funds the PA school textbooks which perpetuate hatred of Jewish people and Israel.
I was a member of the Cabinet that signed off the annual, now £18 million, security fund to protect Jewish schools and other community premises. In February, Prime Minister Sunak announced £54 million of new, additional funding to the Community Security Trust (CST) as part of the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant.
As Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, I was a committed defender of shechita, opposing regulations that would have increased the cost of kosher meat through labelling changes.
In June 2019, I led a landmark debate calling on the Government to recognise the plight of over 850,000 Jewish refugees who were forced to flee their historic communities in the Middle East and North Africa since 1945. This was the first time this issue had ever been formally debated in the House of Commons.
Campaigning against antisemitism and hate crime
I have campaigned strongly against antisemitism and shall continue to speak out against this pernicious form of hatred and division. I am a member of the APPG Against Antisemitism and I co-authored a ground-breaking report on this issue from the APPG in 2006 – a copy of which can be found here). I have raised this issue many times in Parliament, including at Prime Minister’s Question Time. I spoke in the very powerful debate in the House of Commons on antisemitism in Labour in 2018. I attended the rally in Parliament Square in 2019 and the national march against antisemitism which took place on 26th November last year. In 2022, I tabled Parliament’s first ever debate on antisemitism in football.
I believe it is essential that we never forget the horrors of the Holocaust. I have visited Yad Vashem in Jerusalem twice. I support the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. I have been attending events on Holocaust Memorial Day ever since the concept was adopted in the UK.
In 2018, I introduced legislation in Parliament to maintain Holocaust survivors’ right to recover their artwork and cultural objects looted in the Nazi era – a very rare example of the Private Members Bill making it on to the statute book.
7th October and its aftermath
I have publicly and repeatedly expressed my backing for the action Israel needs to take to ensure Hamas never again has the capacity to carry out kind of acts of evil it perpetrated on 7th October. During the days immediately following the atrocity, I was among over 300 Parliamentarians to sign a letter coordinated by the All Party Britain Israel Group which expressed revulsion and condemnation of the attack.
I visited a number of shuls in my constituency to show my solidarity with the Jewish community and reiterate my unequivocal support for Israel’s right to defend its land and its citizens. I was with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when he visited a local Jewish school.
I was one of the lead signatories on a letter sent by the Board of Deputies to the BBC complaining about the corporation’s refusal to describe Hamas as terrorists. I condemned media outlets who blamed Israel for the explosion near the Al Ahli hospital without waiting for the facts to be established.
I have been present at a number of briefings in Parliament with the Israeli Ambassador, HE Tzipi Hotovely. That has included hearing directly from relatives of the victims of the Hamas attack. This was deeply moving. I hosted a meeting with Adi Efrat who was captured by Hamas on 7th October and later rescued by the IDF.
The rise in antisemitism which has taken place since 7th October is appalling. I know that this is causing great anxiety and insecurity in the Jewish community. It is completely unacceptable that any group should feel they need to hide their ethnic or faith identity because they fear that they will be attacked.
The antisemitic chants and displays at protests have been sickening. I have reported a number of incidents to the police, urging them to take a tough line on hate crime. I have also stressed the importance of providing reassurance patrols to secure the safety of the Jewish community. I joined a call with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Sir Mark Rowley, to emphasise the vital importance of bringing to justice those responsible for antisemitic activity, including people shouting “from the river to the sea”, an antisemitic slogan denying the right of Israel to exist.
I recently visited the control centre from which the Met oversee the policing operation for the Gaza protests and reiterated these points.
The UK Government is clear that there is no place for antisemitism or the glorification of terrorism on the streets of Britain. This has been confirmed many times by the Prime Minister at the despatch box in Parliament. Both he and the Home Secretary expect the police to use the full force of the law against displays of support for Hamas, or other proscribed terrorist groups.
I have called for tougher laws to enable the police to take into account the cumulative impact of a succession of protests. This is now included in the Conservative manifesto:
“We will strengthen police powers to prevent protests or marches that pose a risk of serious disorder, by allowing police to take into account the cumulative impact of protests.
We will place a duty on the police and prosecutors to publish regular guidance on the statements, chants or symbols, for example, the swastika or the term ‘jihad’, that in the context of political protest may constitute an offence. We will explore ways for the police to recover some of the costs of policing disruptive protests from the groups that organise them.”
I have spoken on the conflict repeatedly in Parliament. That includes urging the PM to maintain the UK’s steadfast support for Israel. I have raised the plight of the hostages again and again, and called on the UK Government to do all it can to help secure their release, including at Prime Minister’s questions. I was one of the first MPs to speak about the sexual violence that took place on 7th October.
BDS Bill
I strongly oppose boycotts and embargoes against Israel or against products from the disputed territories. I believe that the trade by the UK and Israel benefits both countries and I would like to see it increase not decline.
I back the Bill to ban BDS boycotts by universities and councils. I used the debate on this legislation as an opportunity to publicly condemn those who accuse Israel of war crimes without justification.
Visit to Israel
I visited Israel in the New Year as part of a delegation hosted by Conservative Friends of Israel.
In a busy programme, I and my MP colleagues visited Sderot to see the site of the police station demolished in order to defeat the terrorists who had taken it over. We also went to the Kfar Aza kibbutz to witness the devastation caused by Hamas violence. It was heart-breaking to be told that one of the roads in this small farming community had become known as a “street of death” because so many people lost their lives there on 7th October.
In Tel Aviv, we visited an IDF base and were shown weapons used by Hamas. These included what are known as thermobaric vacuum bombs which suck the oxygen out of a room and incinerate everyone inside.
We met Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari who told us about the horrifying evidence of the rapes and sexual violence committed by Hamas on 7th October.
We heard inspirational stories from survivors of the terror attacks and from people who risked their lives to rescue people. We spoke to relatives of hostages and we visited their exhibition in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.
It was at times harrowing, but I welcomed the opportunity to show my support for Israel and learn more about the situation there. You can read more about my visit here in an article I wrote about it for the Jewish News.
Iran
I am deeply worried about Iran’s appalling human rights record and its destabilising impact in the Middle East. It is a very serious threat to the security of Israel and other countries in the region. I have always called for a tough line against Iran by the UK Government.
I have raised these matters in Parliament many times, including asking for the closure of institutions like the Islamic Centre of Maida Vale which is believed to have close links with the regime in Tehran.
I have repeatedly called for the IRGC to be proscribed and for snapback sanctions to be imposed under the Iran nuclear deal because of the clear violation of that agreement by the Iranian regime.
I strongly support the role of the RAF in the coalition which defended Israel against the disgraceful Iranian attack on its territory on 13th April. I welcome UK action, taken alongside the US on 18 April, to sanction 7 individuals and six entities. A range of sanctions have also been announced to tighten the net on key actors within Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and missile industries, and further limit Iran’s ability to destabilise the region. This adds to the 400 plus sanctions already imposed on Iran. Previous sanctions include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in its entirety and many of those responsible for the attack on Israel.
The Iranian Government is having a deeply malign impact on the region and if I am re-elected, I will continue to condemn its involvement in conflict and terrorism.
Finally I would reiterate my support for negotiations leading to a peaceful settlement and a two state solution. I would also emphasise that I do not believe there should be recognition of a Palestinian State unless this is part of a mutually agreed settlement between the two sides. I condemn Labour’s plans for unilateral recognition. This could have grave repercussions and I will strongly oppose it if I am re-elected.
Please give me your support on 4th July, so I can continue to speak up for the Jewish community and Israel. I do not believe that any of the other candidates standing can match the commitment I have shown on this over a period of nearly two decades."
Digital imprint: Promoted by Theresa Villiers of 163 High Street, Barnet, EN5 5SU.
