May to challenge ‘new and pernicious’ anti-semitism

THERESA MAY will tonight warn there “can be no excuses for any kind of hatred towards the Jewish people” as she marks the centenary of the Balfour Declaration, the 1917 British statement that helped pave the way for the creation of Israel.

Speaking alongside Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, Mrs May will challenge “a new and pernicious form of anti-semitism” in which criticism of Israel’s government is used to question the state’s right to exist.

“Criticising the actions of Israel is never – and can never be – an excuse for questioning Israel’s right to exist, any more than criticising the actions of Britain could be an excuse for questioning our right to exist,” Mrs May will say. “And criticising the government of Israel is never – and can never be – an excuse for hatred against the Jewish people – any more than criticising the British government would be an excuse for hatred against the British people.”

Mrs May and Mr Netanyahu will attend a gala dinner at Lancaster House tonight as the guests of Baron Rothschild, whose great-uncle was a leading Zionist campaigner and the original recipient of the Balfour Declaration.

Jeremy Corbyn, a long-time critic of Israel, will skip the dinner but is sending Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, in his place.

Britain has tried to strike a balance between celebrating the centenary with the Israeli government and the UK’S Jewish community while also showing sensitivity to the Palestinians, who believe the declaration stripped them of their homeland.

In her speech, Mrs May will call for “a peace deal that must be based on a two-state solution, with a secure and prosperous Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state”.