DAVID CAMERON BECOMES PRIME MINISTER OF GREAT BRITAIN: Is he a friend of Israel?

David Cameron, new British PM, and his wife, Samantha, arrive at 10 Downing Street. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

UPDATE: Details of the new UK cabinet emerge….see below…

David Cameron, leader of the UK’s center-right Tory Party, today became the new Prime Minister of Great Britain.

The good news: he understands the severity of Iran’s nuclear threat; has likened Islamic extremism to Naziism; supported the war in Iraq and opposed calls to cut and run; supported the war in Afghanistan and resisted calls to cut the number of British troops there; refuses to unilaterally surrender the UK’s nuclear deterrence; he’s part Jewish; he has publicly declared himself a Zionist; and he has taken pro-Israel positions in the past, including Israel’s right to defend herself in the war against Hamas in 2009.   

The not-so-good news: Cameron supports a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians, which by definition requires dividing Israel and carving up pieces of Jerusalem; he has described East Jerusalem as “occupied” territory; he has been sharply critical of Israeli settlements; he leads a weak political party, holding only 306 seats, well short of a majority (total seats in the British parliament: 650), and is thus dependent on left-of-center political parties; and to gain power, Cameron built a political coalition with Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg (whose party won just 57 seats). Clegg has  been so severely hostile to Israel that he actually called for an arms embargo against the Jewish State in 2009.

Update, Tuesday, 6:23pm eastern: Nick Clegg named Deputy Prime Minister

Will David Cameron be a friend to Israel as the rest of the world — and nearly all of Europe, and now the White House — isolates Israel? I pray the answer is yes, but it remains to be seen. Given the coalition he has just built, I must say I’m concerned.

THE COALITION CABINET (source: Daily Mail)

  • PM: David Cameron (Tory)
  • Deputy PM: Nick Clegg (Lib Dem)
  • Chancellor: George Osborne (Tory)
  • Foreign Secretary: William Hague (Tory)
  • Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality: Theresa May (Tory)
  • Defence Secretary: Liam Fox (Tory)
  • Health Secretary: Andrew Lansley (Tory)
  • Scotland: Danny Alexander (Lib Dem)
  • Work and Pensions: Ian Duncan-Smith (Tory)
  • Business: Vince Cable (Lib Dem)
  • Education: Michael Gove (Tory)
  • Energy and Climate Change: Chris Huhne (Lib Dem) TBC
  • Communities and Local Government: Eric Pickles (Tory)
  • Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor: Ken Clarke (Tory)
  • Attorney General: Dominic Grieve (Tory)
  • Chief Whip: Patrick McLoughlin (Tory)
  • Chief Sec to Treasury: David Laws (Lib Dem)
  • ——————————————————

    KEY STORIES TO TRACK:

     

    %d bloggers like this: