Tory leader David Cameron in the Jewish Press
Has "Jewish blood", from a German-born Jewish merchant,
calls himself "a Zionist" and "good for Jews",
says that his "values are Jewish values",
says that he is "particularly attracted by the Jewish
concept of mitzvah, a good deed done for its own sake"
*** "Prominent members of the Jewish community are playing a major role in financing David Cameron’s bid for power..."
"Chief among his financial backers are Poju Zabludowicz, billionaire chairman of Bicom..."
"A former aide to Tory leader David Cameron is to play a major role in a pro-Israel campaign being launched by Bicom, the British Israel Communications and Research Centre..."
The Jerusalem Post, June 13, 2007, informed us that the Conservative Opposition leader David Cameron was a believer in Zionism, the political ideology behind the Jewish state of Israel, and the ideological framework behind its crimes. The Jerusalem Post writes:
"I am a Zionist," Conservative Party leader David Cameron told an audience of party supporters of Israel in London on Tuesday."If what you mean by Zionist, is someone who believes that the Jews have a right to a homeland in Israel and a right to their country then, yes, I am a Zionist and I'm proud of the fact that Conservative politicians down the ages have played a huge role in helping to bring this about," Cameron declared.
The Conservative leader was guest of honor at the Conservative Friends of Israel annual business lunch, which was attended by some 500 people - including half the parliamentary party, 30 Conservative parliamentary candidates, former leaders, lords and Israel's ambassador.
Cameron also informed that he was "good for Jews". The Jerusalem Post writes in the same article:
[The Times journalist] Finkelstein asked Cameron if he were "good for the Jews," to which Cameron replied: "I hope I can say I'm not just a good friend of Israel but I am, as you put it, good for Jews."
David Cameron with Israeli war criminal Ehud OlmertHere follows a load of articles from the leading paper of the British Jews, The Jewish Chronicle. These articles are very revealing and we recommend reading them all. They will expose the level of Jewish infiltration of the Conservative Party with 100% Jews like Michael Howard and Malcolm Rifkind in the absolute top, but also that Cameron himself is a part-Jew - of "Jewish blood" as they call it. They also reveal that Cameron is backed by a string of Jewish moneymen including his own court-Jew Andrew Feldman (who has been promoted within the party to Tory chief executive). And the links to the Israel propaganda mouthpiece BICOM, are many.
We also recommend reading on "Yachtgate"; the scandalous affair that exposed the links between the Labour and Tory Jews, the Jewish Rothschild family and a Jewish mobster from Russia, Oleg Deripaska, who wanted to give funds to the Tories.
Cowell, Cameron are Jew(ish)
07/06/2007
ONE of Britain’s most influential figures has been revealed as having Jewish blood — and so has Conservative leader David Cameron.
First, impresario Simon Cowell. His brother Nick has confirmed to the JC that their paternal grandparents were Joseph Cowell and Esther Malinsky, who, according to JC reader Doreen Berger from Stanmore, got married at West Ham Synagogue in East London.
Meanwhile, David Cameron also had a Jewish antecedent, according to historian William D Rubinstein.
His great-grandfather, Emile Levita (1827-1909), was a German-born Jewish merchant who moved to Britain. His daughter married Ewen Cameron, David’s grandfather. Mazeltov.
CFI love David Cameron
08/12/2005
By Jenni Frazer
I tell you, there’s been dancing in the aisles at the Conservative Friends of Israel at the overwhelming victory of David Cameron as the Tory Party’s latest leader — not least because the new leader of the Opposition is making one of his first public engagements as guest speaker at the CFI’s Central London business lunch on January 30.
Cameron was actually due to go to Israel with the CFI earlier this year, on what would have been his first visit to the country, but he was unable to travel because of the illness of one of his children.
He responded to a CFI questionnaire with the view that “Conservatives recognise Israel’s unique position as a lone democracy in a region that currently boasts no others. I am a strong admirer of what Israelis have achieved in the fields of science, the arts, business and philanthropy, and of the immeasurable contribution of Jewish culture to our own society.”
The new Opposition leader has many admirers in the Jewish community, too. Chief among his financial backers are Poju Zabludowicz, billionaire chairman of Bicom; and property tycoon Trevor Pears, a keen supporter of Jewish charities.
Cameron is also a friend of Andrew Feldman, a university pal spoken is the Tory equivalent to Labour mega-fundraiser Michael Levy. DC’s Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, has already been to Israel with the CFI, and the return to front-bench politics of the “extremely positive to Israel” former leader, William Hague, as Shadow Foreign Secretary, and the inclusion in the Cameron top circles of former Times journalist, Michael Gove, now an MP, has delighted the CFI pack.
And now I hear that our Dave had an ancestor called Levita. That explains the gesturing hands and the popularity, then.
"The Jewish Chronicle writes that Tory leader David Cameron praised the contribution Jews have made to the country and have contributed much since returning 350 years ago. At a Board of Deputies' president's dinner, Mr Cameron said he was "particularly attracted by the Jewish concept of mitzvah, a good deed done for its own sake.""
- The Jewish site somethingjewish.co.uk, in the article "Jewish media round-up", by Leslie Bunder, 1/06/2006.
‘I am a Zionist,’ Cameron tells MPs
14/06/2007
By Bernard Josephs
A broadside against the campaign by radical trade unionists to boycott Israel was issued by Opposition leader David Cameron this week in an address to 500 Tory supporters and MPs.
The boycotters may comprise “72 Trots in a room”, he said, but their actions could give rise to antisemitism, he told guests at the Conservative Friends of Israel business lunch in London.
In a question-and-answer session with JC columnist and Times associate editor Daniel Finkelstein, Mr Cameron said the boycott campaigners were treating Israel as a pariah state.
“I have no hesitation in saying that the boycotters may be a bunch of loons, but what they are doing is profoundly wrong and profoundly dangerous,” he said.
The Opposition leader attacked politicians who were overly critical of Israel, asserting that their remarks could “spill over into antisemitism”.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone, he said, was “sometimes guilty of that”. He added: “One thing politicians are responsible for is the words that come out of their mouths and we should choose them very carefully. I don’t think he [Mr Livingstone] always does that.”
He warned that the security barrier in the West Bank could damage hopes of a two-state solution, but defended his remarks during the Lebanon war that Israel’s response to Hizbollah attacks was disproportionate.
“You can see the need to build a wall to stop terrorists. The wall is justified and has made a difference but some of it has been built around settlements and that could make chances for a two-state solution more difficult.”
As for Israel’s response to Hizbollah attacks, he asserted that Israel was justified in hitting back, but he and Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague had believed that the bombardment of Lebanon was disproportionate — and to the chagrin of some senior Jewish Tories — had said so. “I am a true friend of Israel but a friend of Israel has to be a candid friend. Disproportionate was the right word to use,” he said. “If what you mean by Zionist is someone who believes that the Jews have a right to a homeland in Israel and a right to their country, then yes, I am a Zionist, and I’m proud of the fact that Conservative politicians down the ages have played a huge role in helping bring this about.”
Mirror image of Cameron
03/11/2005
By Rachel Fletcher
David Cameron told the JC this week that his Tory leadership manifesto “mirrors what a lot of people in the Jewish community think about life.
“The heart of my campaign is the view of shared responsibility to tackle the country’s problems,” he declared. “And every community has to play a part. People in the Jewish community live by values such as understanding the importance of family and sensing obligations to others.”
Mr Cameron said he had long been “tremendously impressed by the community’s social work and social activeness. I visited Jewish Care and spoke at a business breakfast recently. It is a model of what community groups and voluntary organisations should do.”
The Witney MP said he had yet to visit Israel — “a major gap in my experience which I hope to put right at the earliest opportunity.” He called himself a great supporter of Israel, and said he is for a two-state solution with a strong, secure Israel and a Palestinian state.
Currently Shadow Education Sec-retary, Mr Cameron said he supported Jewish schools. “They need to keep with the National Curriculum and they need to have the same support as Christian schools. There must be fairness in the way all faiths are treated.”
He claimed to have “done a little for shechitah, as there is an abattoir in my constituency that produces a large amount of kosher meat. I will press for shechitah to continue as it is important to the Jewish community and we should be tolerant of minority religions’ rights.”
Mr Cameron’s Parliamentary backers include senior Jewish Tories Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Oliver Letwin. His campaign treasurer is barrister-turned-clothing company boss Andrew Feldman.
The two became friends as students at Brasenose College, Oxford, and Mr Cameron testified: “He’s a really great guy and would do the party proud.”
‘I know a lot about the community’
06/09/2007
So what does David Cameron know about Britain’s Jewish community? “I know quite a lot about the community, I’d say,” he fires back, his tone confident, almost slick.
“Andrew Feldman, one of my oldest and best friends, helped run my leadership campaign; I’ve been to the Community Safety Trust [sic] dinner; I’m one of the few politicians who’s actually been round Jewish Care before speaking at their breakfast; I was recently at a synagogue in Leeds; I worked for a prominent Jewish business leader for seven-and-a-half years, Michael Green… and in my downstairs loo, you’d see the proud gift I received after speaking at the 350th anniversary dinner, [a print] of Benjamin Disraeli’s house.”
But what matters more, he says, is his belief that Jewish teaching encapsulates the vision of British society that his Conservative Party seeks to fulfil. “The essence of what I’m saying about the future of the country, how we should run our government, I think is something that Jewish people will profoundly understand, which is that we need a sense of social responsibility.
“That if we’re going to solve the problems we have as a country — poor education, bad public health, poor housing, problems with drug addiction, family breakdown — we’ve got to recognise that we’re all in it together. It’s not just government that has the answers, it’s stronger families, stronger communities, trusting professionals in the health service… We all have an individual and social responsibility. And to me, that is at the heart of Jewish teaching.”
It is this emphasis on social responsibility that he says defines his more “mainstream” Conservative Party. “I hope that people in Britain’s Jewish community, who are the very essence of social responsibility, in terms of what they do in terms of charity, social enterprise, individual action, strong families — I hope they will respond to this. And so far they seem to be.”
What does this mean in specific terms? More help for faith schools, for instance? “Yes, I support faith schools, they’re very important,” he says. “It also means trusting charities and voluntary bodies more, giving them longer-term funding, respecting that often they’ve got the answers rather than government, trusting them to run larger programmes. It’s a big cultural change in terms of the way the government interacts with the social and voluntary sectors.”
He had not, he acknowledges, met many Jews before Oxford. At Eton “there were lots of Montefiores and Rothschilds”, he says, “but I was very unconscious, growing up, of the issue of antisemitism, that’s true”.
At Oxford, he met Andrew Feldman, his first strong Jewish friend, who fundraised for Cameron’s leadership campaign. Other friends include Howard Leigh, a corporate financier active in Jewish charities who is a senior Conservative Party treasurer. Cameron does not have a rabbinic adviser — “though I’ve met the Chief Rabbi several times, and very much admire what he’s done”.
Cameron faced criticism from Lord Kalms and others after his Shadow Foreign Secretary, William Hague, declared that “elements of the Israeli response were disproportionate” in the Lebanon conflict. “I see Stanley from time to time, but he was wrong... I think attacks on Lebanese army units, the bombing of Christian parts of Beirut, were disproportionate. The use of cluster bombs. Israel had every right to attack the Hizbollah guerrillas who had rained in thousands of rockets. But the point I’d make really strongly is that we did not call for an immediate ceasefire. Lots of Labour politicians were.
“We thought Israel had a right to respond vigorously to the rocket attacks, as their own people were being killed. But that does not mean you should not also be able to say that elements were disproportionate.”
So what would his Middle East policy be? “I believe that Israel has a right to exist, that it has a right to exist within secure borders. I respect the fact that it’s a democracy, which is very rare in that region,” he says.
What of Cameron’s own faith? “I’m a participating member of the Church of England, I’ll put it that way. I have a faith, it’s important, but not something I wear on my sleeve.” He smiles. “I’ve always said I believe in God, but I don’t think I have a direct line.”
Cameron proves to be a safe bet for Rifkind
08/12/2005
By Rachel Fletcher
Sir Malcolm Rifkind proved himself a shrewd analyst of the Tory electorate when he accurately predicted David Cameron’s leadership victory margin the day before the ballot announcement.
Interviewed by columnist and former Tory candidate Daniel Finkel-stein at a New West End Synagogue event on Monday, Sir Malcolm forecast that Mr Cameron “will win by two-to-one.
“He does have the capacity to approach and reach out beyond traditional Conservatives. That’s crucial if we are to make political progress.”
However, the Kensington and Chelsea MP questioned whether the new partnership of Israeli political veterans Ariel Sharon and Shimon Peres “suggests the cult of youth in this country might have gone too far. It does suggest to me we should look at a political system to see who can be the best provider of solutions to the problem a country has.”
The ex-Foreign and Defence Secretary also spoke of his hopes for Middle East peace, citing improved relations between Israel and Egypt and Jordan as proof that “the last 60 years have not been a complete waste of time.”
He praised Yitzhak Rabin, whose funeral he had attended, as “a very brave, courageous, successful general [who realised] that the society Israel required needed strength but also negotiation.”
As for life as a Jewish MP, he said: “I don’t think there’s a Jewish point of view — the Jewish community has a spectrum of opinions.
Michael Howard’s public life was always followed as a Jewish Member, but I’m thought of as a Scottish Member [he previously represented an Edin-burgh constituency].”
When he bid for the Conservative leadership, “the fact that I was Jewish was never mentioned, but the fact I was Scottish was constantly mentioned.”
Cameron tribute
08/06/2006
By Leon Symons
Tory opposition leader David Cameron heaped praise on the “genius” of the Jewish community at the Board of Deputies’ president’s dinner at the Park Lane Hotel in Mayfair on Monday night.
In a wide-ranging speech that drew prolonged applause, Mr Cameron singled out the primacy of Jewish values as “the greatest strength of the Jewish faith and the community in Britain.” He also praised the community for contributing to so many areas of society since Jews returned 350 years ago.
He told the 380-strong audience that he was “particularly attracted by the Jewish concept of mitzvah, a good deed done for its own sake,” and pledged his support for the continuance of state-aided faith schools.
Britain’s record in fighting anti-semitism compared well with other countries “but there is no room for complacency.” He said there was evidence of “an increase in hostility towards youngsters whose only crime is to be visibly Jewish” and that there was a particular problem on university campuses.
He went on: “I would like to offer some advice to those people who, by their words and actions, create a climate in which discrimination can be legitimised. Whether they are lecturers urging boycotts against Israeli academics or mayors offering platforms to preachers of hate, I say ‘you should be careful because you are wrecking our society.’”
Afterwards he told the JC: “I think sometimes people can take their comments against Israel so far that it pushes over into anti-semitism and gives antisemitism room to breathe.”
He also gave an unequivocal commitment to ensure the continuance of shechitah (religious slaughter).
Board president Henry Grunwald said the lives of Jews in Britain would be “infinitely poorer” without the organisation and made a plea for greater financial support.
Special report: Team Cameron’s big Jewish backers
12/10/2006
By Bernard Josephs and Leon Symons
Prominent members of the Jewish community are playing a major role in financing David Cameron’s bid for power, a JC investigation can reveal.
The biggest Jewish donor to the party while Mr Cameron has been leader is gaming magnate Lord Steinberg, who has donated £530,000, plus a loan of £250,000. Hedge-fund owner Stanley Fink has donated £103,000, even though he was a declared supporter of Mr Cameron’s leadership rival, Liam Fox. A further £250,000 has been loaned by philanthropist Dame Vivien Duffield.
During Mr Cameron’s campaign to lead his party, Jewish figures gave his team (as opposed to the party) additional donations of more than £60,000. According to the JC’s inquiries, direct donations to “Team Cameron” in the leadership battle came from philanthropist Trevor Pears (around £20,000), Bicom chair Poju Zabludowicz (£15,000 plus £25,000 to the party), Next chief executive Simon Wolfson (£10,000 plus £50,000 to the party), former Carlton TV boss Michael Green (£10,000) and Tory deputy treasurer and key Cameron fundraiser Andrew Feldman (£10,000 through his family firm, Jayroma).
Beyond the donors, a small but influential group of Jewish Conservative officials and politicians were also key players in Mr Cameron’s campaign for the leadership. Among them was party treasurer and managing director of Cavendish Corporate Finance, Howard Leigh, who stressed that Mr Cameron was preparing a new policy on political financing.
“He is preparing to cap donations at £50,000, combined with some state financing,” Mr Leigh told the JC. “The aim is to prevent people from buying influence. We think a £50,000 cap is reasonable.”
Mr Leigh worked closely with Mr Feldman in running the so-called “Team Cameron,” and both will now be charged with broadening the party’s donor base. Mr Feldman is a close friend of Mr Cameron, whom he met as an undergraduate at Oxford University.
Other senior figures around the leader include Oliver Letwin, head of policy. A former shadow Home Secretary and shadow Chancellor, Mr Letwin is, like Mr Cameron, an Old Etonian.
Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps, who seconded Mr Cameron’s bid to become Tory leader, decided early on that he was the man “of the future.” He backed his campaign, he told the JC, because “I saw that he had great leadership qualities.” As a vice-chairman of the Conservative Party, he said, he would be taking the Cameron message to supporters around the UK.
Although he is popular with Jewish Tories, Mr Cameron’s criticism of Israel’s actions in Lebanon sparked doubts about his stance — voiced particularly by Tory donor and former party treasurer Lord Kalms.
However, Conservative Friends of Israel chair Richard Harrington stressed that the leader had given LFI “every possible access” and had met CFI officials several times.
Andrew Feldman, second left at the back, with David Cameron, top right,
and the Brasenose College tennis team in the 1980sThe Key Players
Andrew Feldman - Destined to be charged with raising money for the new-look Conservative Party, Andrew Feldman (circled, at the left of the picture), 40, met Mr Cameron (circled, right of picture) at Brasenose College, Oxford. He is a close friend and tennis partner of the leader.
Said to be a member of the Tories’ so-called Notting Hill set, he lives in West London with his wife and two children. Mr Feldman attended Haberdashers’ Aske’s school, and, after qualifying as a lawyer, entered the family’s ladieswear firm, Jayroma. Having acted as fundraiser for Mr Cameron’s leadership campaign, he is now deputy treasurer of the party and is in Mr Cameron’s economic-policy group.
Michael Green - Michael Green, former chairman of Carlton Television, gave financial support to David Cameron’s leadership campaign but would not discuss details.
“I am a big supporter of David Cameron but I want to make it clear that I have not supported the Tory Party. I have supported David Cameron’s quest to become leader,” he said.
Lord Steinberg - Lord Steinberg — formerly Leonard Steinberg — became a life peer in 2004 and is a major donor to the Conservatives. Raised in Belfast and educated at Royal Belfast Academical Institution, the 70-year-old Baron Steinberg of Belfast was a founder of Stanley Leisure plc, the gaming company, serving as executive chairman from 1957 to 2002 and non-executive chairman since then. He is a former deputy treasurer of the Tory party and is a founder and chairman of his family charitable trust. His political interests are listed in Dod’s, the parliamentary guide, as Northern Ireland, tax and gambling, and Israel.
Simon Wolfson
A donor to David Cameron’s leadership campaign and to the Conservative Party, Simon Wolfson, 38, will be continuing a family tradition when he becomes an adviser to Mr Cameron on improving economic competition and wealth creation.
The son of Lord Wolfson, who was chief of staff to Margaret Thatcher, Mr Wolfson, chief executive of the Next clothing chain, is one of the youngest advisors to be appointed by Mr Cameron.
Along with MP John Redwood, Mr Wolfson will jointly chair the advisory group that will seek to reduce red tape and improve education and skills in the workplace. It will also examine the country’s transport infrastructure.
Grant Shapps MP
As vice-chairman of the Conservative Party and seconder to David Cameron’s campaign, backbencher Grant Shapps will find the next few months extremely busy as he tours the constituencies to persuade Tories of the virtues of the new leadership.
Speaking to the JC, he acknowledged that there would be doubts in some quarters but he has no doubt that the party has chosen the right man.
“I persuaded my colleagues at the parliamentary level and I shall now have to do the same thing all over the country,” said the MP for Welwyn Hatfield. “The thing that people will like about David is that he is very optimistic.”
Members' interest
26/04/2007
By Bernard Josephs
The son of veteran Labour peer Lord Janner was named this week in the House of Commons Register of Members’ Interests as a donor to Tory leader David Cameron’s private office.
Daniel Janner, QC, declined to say how much he had given, but said that he had been influenced by his friendship with former Times journalist and Surrey Heath Tory MP Michael Gove, “for whom I have the highest regard”.
Mr Janner, who once stood as a Labour candidate in Bosworth, said that although he had been a Conservative for years, the clash of politics had not harmed his relationship with his father, who was for 20 years Labour MP for Leicester North West and then Leicester West, and was subsequently elevated to the Lords as a Labour peer.
“He [Greville] is a wonderful father and a terrific grandfather to my children. Politics doesn’t come into it,” said the lawyer, who is to become the next chairman of governors at Immanuel College in Bushey, and whose wife, Caroline, heads the Jewish Deaf Association.
Lord Janner, chair of the Holocaust Educational Trust, told the JC: “Daniel is a Tory and I can’t say I was very pleased when he crossed over from Labour. Still, we are good friends and we just don’t discuss politics. His politics are a matter for him.”
Other donors to the Tory leader included Jewish philanthropist Trevor Pears, who gave an undisclosed personal donation to Mr Cameron’s campaign.
Mr Cameron also declared a flight from London to Manchester provided by the Community Security Trust when he addressed a CST function in the North.
Other Tory leadership candidates declared that they were partly backed by Jewish financiers. David Davis revealed that among his financial supporters was Lord Kalms, and among Liam Fox’s supporters was Stanley Fink, chief executive of the Man Group.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell received financial support from Lord Jacobs, Lord Alliance and Jonathan Marks, said the document.
George Galloway, the veteran anti-Zionist and radical left MP for the Respect party, received a £2,000 donation from playwright Harold Pinter towards a legal fund to support his actions against the Daily Telegraph and the Christian Science Monitor.
Other financial boosts were “between £145,000 and £150,000” for his appearance on Channel 4’s Big Brother. Mr Galloway also received large sums for the advances on his books including Fidel Castro Handbook and Mr Galloway Goes to Washington.
John Mann, chair of the Parliamentary Committee Against Antisemitism, paid a visit to the parliaments of Lebanon and Syria, funded by the Anglo-Arab Organisation.
Tories a ‘true friend of Israel’
05/10/2006
By Rachel Fletcher
David Cameron this week described the Conservative Party as a “a true friend of Israel.”
Addressing the Conservative Friends of Israel fringe meeting during the party conference in Bournemouth, Mr Cameron said: “We look at Israel and we see a democracy, a democracy that has a right to exist and defend itself, and is a force for good in the world. I want to say that as clearly as I can.”
He went on to praise the Jewish contribution to British life. “To plagiarise the Chief Rabbi, it’s how we build a house together. I think the Jewish community has made a great contribution and is an example of how to integrate.”
Party chairman Francis Maude told the 200 guests that “the Conservatives should always be a collective friend of Israel, just as it is a friend of a two-state solution.”
However, eyebrows had been raised when Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague failed to mention Israel in his 10-minute conference speech, during which he expressed the need both “to understand the politics and intentions of a country like Iran” and to befriend Muslim nations in the Gulf and North Africa in the face of Islamic terror threats.
Mr Hague was unavailable for comment. But Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox, another speaker at the CFI meeting, told the JC that there were time constraints. Asked why he thought Mr Hague had not mentioned Israel, he replied: “That’s not for me to answer. I don’t know his mind.”
CFI chairman Richard Harrington said Mr Hague had been among guests at a private CFI lunch also attended by Iain Duncan Smith and had visited Israel three times. “I think they felt that over the summer the Middle East had enough exposure,” he speculated. “Within foreign policy there are many other issues.”
My values are yours
22/03/2007
By David Rowan
David Cameron, he would like it known, is an enthusiastic friend of the Jewish people.
“I have great admiration and respect for what the community’s achieved,” he begins in the back seat of his official Opposition car — the “greener” hybrid petrol-electric Lexus that he requested, albeit with no bicycle in sight — en route this Friday-morning rush hour from his Ladbroke Grove house to King’s Cross.
“If you look at educational achievement, contribution to the community, to business, sense of public service, duty, [being] good at integrating into Britain — you tick every box three times over.”
Cameron has not until now made himself available for interview to a Jewish publication. After a difficult summer, when his party faced criticism for appearing unsupportive of Israel in its hour of need, there was speculation that Cameron, perhaps, saw fewer advantages in engaging with this community than predecessors such as Michael Howard or, notably, Margaret Thatcher.
His gilded rise via Eton and Brasenose, Oxford — with all the advantages of Bullingdon drinking-club connections, three forebears who were Conservative MPs, and latterly marriage into the Astor dynasty — have not, after all, suggested much empathy for Jewish concerns. He has certainly shown none of Labour’s enthusiasm for bringing into his inner circle this community’s Michael Levys or Ronald Cohens.
So what does the Tory leader know about Britain’s Jewish community?
As Terry the driver negotiates a congested A40, Cameron moves his gaze between the road and the tape recorder as he unflinchingly establishes his credentials. “I know quite a lot about the community, I’d say,” he fires back, his tone confident, almost slick, more businesslike than warm.
“Andrew Feldman, one of my oldest and best friends, helped run my leadership campaign; I’ve been to the Community Safety Trust [sic] dinner; I’m one of the few politicians who’s actually been round Jewish Care before speaking at their breakfast; I was recently at a synagogue in Leeds; I worked for a prominent Jewish business leader for seven-and-a-half years, Michael Green… and in my downstairs loo, you’d see the proud gift I received after speaking at the 350th anniversary dinner, [a print] of Benjamin Disraeli’s house.”
But what matters more, he says, is his belief that Jewish teaching encapsulates the vision of British society that his Conservative Party seeks to fulfil. “The essence of what I’m saying about the future of the country, how we should run our government, I think is something that Jewish people will profoundly understand, which is that we need a sense of social responsibility,” he says.
“That if we’re going to solve the problems we have as a country — poor education, bad public health, poor housing, problems with drug addiction, family breakdown — we’ve got to recognise that we’re all in it together. It’s not just government that has the answers, it’s stronger families, stronger communities, trusting professionals in the health service… We all have an individual and social responsibility. And to me, that is at the heart of Jewish teaching.”
It is this emphasis on social responsibility that he says defines his more “mainstream” Conservative Party. “I hope that people in Britain’s Jewish community, who are the very essence of social responsibility, in terms of what they do in terms of charity, social enterprise, individual action, strong families — I hope they will respond to this. And so far they seem to be.” It is an attractively vague soundbite, but what does this mean in specific terms? More help for faith schools, for instance? “Yes, I support faith schools, they’re very important,” he says. (He revealed last month that he intends to send his three-year-old daughter to a local Church of England primary.)
“It also means trusting charities and voluntary bodies more, giving them longer-term funding, respecting that often they’ve got the answers rather than government, trusting them to run larger programmes. It’s a big cultural change in terms of the way the government interacts with the social and voluntary sectors.
“What will I be talking about today in Cambridge? Public health. Look at what’s happening in terms of obesity, diabetes, sexual health. Cases of syphilis have gone up ten times in the past decade. We’ve got a real public-health crisis. Of course the government has a role, funding advertising campaigns, but there’s an enormous social responsibility.
“We need families to do more, we need businesses to do more, we need to trust the brilliant voluntary and community groups in this area. Social responsibility gives you the framework to answer all of these questions. And I think it’s a framework that’s very much in tune with the way that British Jews live their lives.” What of Cameron’s own faith? “To me it’s a very private thing,” he replies cautiously. “I’m a participating member of the Church of England, I’ll put it that way. I have a faith, it’s important, but not something I wear on my sleeve.” He smiles. “I’ve always said I believe in God, but I don’t think I have a direct line.”
He had not, he acknowledges, met many Jews before Oxford. At Eton “there were lots of Montefiores and Rothschilds”, he says, “but I was very unconscious, growing up, of the issue of anti-Semitism, that’s true”.
At Oxford, he met Andrew Feldman, now 41, his first strong Jewish friend, who fundraised for Cameron’s leadership campaign in between running the family ladieswear firm, Jayroma. Other friends include Howard Leigh, a corporate financier active in Jewish charities who is a senior Conservative Party treasurer. Cameron does not have a rabbinic adviser — “though I’ve met the Chief Rabbi several times, and very much admire what he’s done” — although he hopes that he is broadening his Jewish understanding through his personal circle. “I’m a good learner.” Still... his political acumen must make him see the advantage in playing more to Britain’s two million Muslims than to 300,000 or so Jews, no? “I believe you’ve got to treat people equally,” he replies.
“I’ve been very outspoken about Ken Livingstone and his very poor record on this front — by moments he’s shown borderline anti-Semitism, with his treatment of that journalist [Oliver Finegold], and the repeated invitations to [controversial Egyptian scholar Yusuf] al-Qaradawi.
“My whole argument about multiculturalism is we’ve got to get away from this idea that you treat people as members of a community. You should treat people as British citizens. We need less of these silos; Britain isn’t a community of communities, but a country with citizens. We should integrate more. And the Jewish community has been fantastic at that.”
Yet during last summer’s Lebanon war, critics suggested that Cameron was actively positioning his party as hostile to Israel, perhaps in part to attract Muslim support.
Most explosive was the verbal missile launched by his Shadow Foreign Secretary, William Hague, who declared that “elements of the Israeli response were disproportionate, risking unnecessary loss of civilian life and an increase in popular support for Hizbollah”. Some prominent Jewish Tories, notably Lord Kalms, were furious. Hague, Kalms wrote in the Spectator, was an “ignorant armchair critic” whose views were not merely unhelpful but “downright dangerous”. Cameron, meanwhile, was accused of staying conveniently silent.
“I think Stanley Kalms’s piece was wrong,” he says now. “I see Stanley from time to time, but he was wrong about this. We have a very sensible foreign policy. I’ve not been silent about this, I set it out on the fifth anniversary of 9/11. It’s a policy about liberal conservatism. Liberal because we should be in favour of humanitarian intervention and the spread of democracy and freedom, but conservative because we should be practical and sceptical about grand schemes to remake the world.
“William Hague is a very strong Shadow Foreign Secretary. We’re both very good friends to Israel, both strong supporters, but we believe it’s right to be frank and straightforward on occasion if there are things the Israeli government does that we don’t agree with. To be someone’s friend is to tell them when you think they’re right and when you think they’re wrong.”
But that explosive phrase about “disproportionality”… “Yes, I think that was a statement of fact. I think attacks on Lebanese army units, the bombing of Christian parts of Beirut, were disproportionate. The use of cluster bombs. Israel had every right to attack the Hizbollah guerrillas who had rained in thousands of rockets. But the point I’d make really strongly is that we did not call for an immediate ceasefire. Lots of Labour politicians were.
“We thought Israel had a right to respond vigorously to the rocket attacks, as their own people were being killed. But that does not mean you should not also be able to say that elements were disproportionate.”
Presumably he suffered some personal grief over the party’s stance. “Yes, lots of people told me they didn’t agree with me. I was on holiday at the time, actually, in an almost entirely Anglo-Jewish household — the Feldmans were there, James Harding from The Times was there, the Spiegels… So I’m not insulated from what members of the community feel, if that reassures you.”
He laughs. A political wake-up call, then? “No, as I still think I said the right thing. And the evidence shows I did. I was very struck in my recent trip to Israel that what it wants badly is a stable, democratic, peaceful Lebanon where there aren’t armed militias.”
Cameron was in Israel from February 28 to March 2, a trip that took in Yad Vashem, meetings with senior politicians, as well as a helicopter trip to Israel’s northern border. “I really enjoyed my trip,” he says. “The Israeli government went out of their way to show me around. The thing that strikes you most is going to Yad Vashem. It is the most brilliantly arranged exhibition. It made me think I will bring my children here when they’re old enough, because this is something everyone should see.”
There were reports, denied from Jerusalem, that he had a heated exchange of views with the Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, when he criticised Israel’s building of settlements. True? He nods. “When you go to see politicians in other countries, there’s no point just exchanging pleasantries. It’s important also to have a lively chat, to ask questions, to probe. I was very impressed with the foreign minister, Mrs Livni, she’s great, but I wanted to ask her about settlements and yes, we did have a good exchange. I wanted to show them that I’d be a good friend to Israel, but a frank one too.”
So what would his Middle East policy be? “I believe that Israel has a right to exist, that it has a right to exist within secure borders, I respect the fact that it’s a democracy, which is very rare in that region,” he says.
“What we need is a two-state solution: a secure Israel, secure in its borders, not at threat from terrorists or its neighbours, and a state of Palestine based on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Britain should be doing what it can to help try to facilitate this. That means being very clear to the Palestinians that we shouldn’t give money to a government that includes people who won’t recognise the right of Israel to exist.
“Equally, we should defend Israel’s right to protect itself. I can understand why they have built the security fence — I saw it for myself, and it has reduced the number of suicide bombings. But equally, we should try to persuade the Israeli government that they mustn’t do things that make a two-state solution impossible.
“One thing that did strike me while there is that the continued growth of settlements, in combination with parts of the wall, is making a two-state solution more difficult.”
Would he negotiate with Hamas? “Until they show real solid substantial movement towards the Quartet principles, I think we should just not deal with them,” he says. “You can’t negotiate with people that are literally murdering your citizens and trying to destroy you. I have every sympathy with Israel over that issue. I’m delighted that Olmert and Abbas have met, and seem to have a good relationship — both said that to me separately. We should go on talking to Abbas, but until Hamas move towards the Quartet principles, I don’t think we can talk to them.”
How urgent a threat is Iran? “It is an urgent and growing threat,” he replies, “and the most important thing is to stop them from attaining a nuclear weapon.
“I’m sure the right approach now is a combination of sanctions and discussions; the sanctions need to be tougher and the discussions more urgent. Don’t rule out the use of force, but I don’t think the circumstances are right for that now.” And if the Americans decided that military action were needed? “If they did it now, it would be a mistake, to be honest.”
He has described his intended relationship with Washington as “solid but not slavish”. Yet could it not be argued that Tony Blair’s close relationship with George Bush had contributed to Israel’s security? “That’s the wrong way to think about it,” he says. “There is not an anti-American bone in my body: we share history, language, culture, interests, we’ve fought alongside each other since 1917.
“My grandfather went on the beaches on D-Day Plus Three under the cover of American warships. But I don’t think we serve our interests, America’s interests or, incidentally, Israel’s interests, if we don’t say what we think.
“A good example: the fact that not enough was done to plan for post-war Iraq. It may well turn out, and we need an inquiry, that Britain didn’t push this issue enough, that we were too slavish and not solid enough. If that’s the case, it hasn’t helped anyone in the Middle East, has it?”
King’s Cross station approaches. Time for a final exchange on domestic politics. The government has delayed its response to the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism. What does Cameron think it should say?
“It’s very important that antisemitism must not be tolerated, point one,” he says. “Point two, that should go right across the board. What is happening in some of the British universities, with boycotts and the rest of it, is unacceptable. Point three, there are still attacks taking place on Jewish students, for instance. We need to do more to stop that.
“There’s also a wider educational point. The Holocaust Memorial Trust does a fantastic job, I’m full of admiration. But let’s not forget that we’ve all got a responsibility here. Let’s not pretend that getting rid of racism is just a government responsibility. It’s a social responsibility too.”
He reflects: “Sometimes, some of the most vicious attacks on Israel can have tinges of anti-Semitism.” But as for a more controversial recent claim of antisemitism: “I don’t buy the theory that Lord Levy is being hounded in any way because he is Jewish. He is being looked into because the police believe there is a case to be looked at. We have to let them do that in a colourblind way, and I think they are. I really don’t buy the idea that there is some sort of antisemitic witchhunt.”
Still, the reported unhappiness among Jewish donors over Labour’s treatment of Levy might give Cameron’s party an opportunity? After all, the JC has already reported that gaming magnate Lord Steinberg donated £530,000 and loaned £250,000 to the Tories; that hedge-fund owner Stanley Fink has recently given £103,000; that Dame Vivien Duffield loaned £250,000. We also know that Cameron’s personal office has accepted donations from Trevor Pears and Bicom chair Poju Zabludowicz.
Cameron smiles. “I don’t spend my life ringing up Labour donors saying, come on, give us a go,” he says. “But I do think we’ve treated people better than the Labour Party. When this furore about loans happened, Labour just published a list of their donors and left them twisting in the wind. I don’t think that’s a fair way to treat people.
“We called ours up and explained either that they could have the money paid back or turn their loan into a donation or a public loan.”
But none of this fundraising, whatever transpires over Lord Levy, is doing British politics any credit... “No, it’s not, which is why I was the first party leader to come up with a comprehensive package on how to reform it, and the first one to suggest we have limits on donations of £50,000.”
Again, without apparent effort, Cameron steers the conversation astutely to notch up a few more political points.
We bid farewell as he prepares to board the train for Cambridge. But something is still playing on Cameron’s mind, and he turns back sharply. “It’s important to get this Israel thing straight,” he says, now animated and making intense eye contact. “The Stanley Kalms article was so annoying, was taking one remark and throwing his toys completely out of the pram. Then Irwin Steltzer wrote an article saying I was Israel-bashing…”
He shakes his head in frustration. “It was just ridiculous. It’s absurd. I’m not changing my mind. And I’d say a lot of people in the Jewish community would completely agree with what I’ve said. Anyway…”
Cameron: My values are Jewish values
22/03/2007
By David Rowan
Exclusive interview: Conservative leader David Cameron today claims that his party’s renewed focus on “social responsibility” is essentially based on core Jewish teachings.
In his first major interview with a Jewish newspaper, Mr Cameron tells the JC: “The essence of what I’m saying about the future of the country, how we should run our government, I think is something that Jewish people will profoundly understand, which is that we need a sense of social responsibility.
“People in Britain’s Jewish community [are] the very essence of social responsibility, in terms of what they do in terms of charity, social enterprise, individual action, strong families.” He adds: “If we’re going to solve the problems we have as a country — poor education, bad public health, poor housing, problems with drug addiction, family breakdown … we all have an individual and social responsibility. And to me, that is at the heart of Jewish teaching.”
In a wideranging interview, the 40-year-old Opposition leader justifies remarks by William Hague, his Shadow Foreign Secretary, about Israel showing a “disproportionate” response in Lebanon last summer. “I think attacks on Lebanese army units, the bombing of Christian parts of Beirut, the use of cluster bombs, were disproportionate,” Mr Cameron says. He dismisses criticism by Lord Kalms at the time as “wrong” and “annoying”, claiming that the former party treasurer was “throwing his toys completely out of the pram”.
“We thought Israel had a right to respond vigorously to the rocket attacks, as their own people were being killed,” he tells the JC. “But that does not mean you should not also be able to say that elements were disproportionate.”
He also discloses that he exchanged heated views during a recent trip to Israel with its Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, after criticising the continued building of settlements. “The continued growth of settlements, in combination with parts of the wall, is making a two-state solution more difficult,” he says. “We should try to persuade the Israeli government that they mustn’t do things that make a two-state solution impossible.”
As prime minister, he would be “a good friend to Israel, but a frank one too”. “I believe that Israel has a right to exist, that it has a right to exist within secure borders, I respect the fact that it’s a democracy, which is very rare in that region,” he says.
“What we need is a two-state solution: a secure Israel, secure in its borders, not at threat from terrorists or its neighbours, and a state of Palestine based on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Britain should be doing what it can to help try to facilitate this. That means being very clear to the Palestinians that we shouldn’t give money to a government that includes people who won’t recognise the right of Israel to exist. Equally, we should defend Israel’s right to protect itself.”
He would have no dealings with Hamas, nor support financially a Palestinian government that includes Hamas members. “You can’t negotiate with people that are literally murdering your citizens and trying to destroy you.”
Domestically, Mr Cameron expresses support for faith schools, which he calls “very important”. His own faith, he says, is “a very private thing”, adding: “I’m a participating member of the Church of England. I have a faith, it’s important, but not something I wear on my sleeve. I believe in God, but I don’t think I have a direct line.”
He says antisemitism must not be tolerated. “What is happening in some of the British universities, with boycotts and the rest of it, is unacceptable. There are still attacks taking place on Jewish students. We need to do more to stop that.”
Ken Livingstone, the London mayor, “has shown borderline antisemitism” with his treatment of the journalist Oliver Finegold, and repeated invitations to Egyptian scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
Cover of The Jewish Chronicle, 22/03/2007, headlining its interview with Conservative Party leader David Cameron: "My values are Jewish values"
Bicom role for Cameron aide
06/07/2006
By Daniella Peled and Bernard Josephs
A former aide to Tory leader David Cameron is to play a major role in a pro-Israel campaign being launched by Bicom, the British Israel Communications and Research Centre.
Daniel Ritterband — who was a special adviser to both Mr Cameron and his predecessor, Michael Howard — is a favourite among candidates to take over the Bicom leadership, vacated by the appointment of Danny Shek as Israel’s next ambassador to France.
However, while ruling himself out of the running, Mr Ritterband told the JC that he would be working on forthcoming projects, particularly the new multi-million-pound action plan to combat what Bicom sees as “a growing threat” to Israel’s legitimacy.
The 31-year-old media specialist, who also worked for five years as an account manager with Saatchi & Saatchi, said the campaign offered “a good opportunity to get involved with the pro-Israel lobby. I am part of the Bicom plan.”
Meanwhile, a team of executive members will be conducting the search for Mr Shek’s successor. Bicom declined to reveal whether a shortlist had been compiled.
Thanking Mr Shek, Bicom chairman Poju Zabludowicz said his diplomatic appointment was “a tribute to the work that has been done by Bicom.”
Bicom: the rich and powerful
22/06/2006
By Simon Rocker
Next Thursday, the wine glasses will be glinting in the evening sunlight on a terrace by the Thames as more than 100 guests gather for Bicom’s first summer reception at the House of Lords. Welcoming them will be its chairman and main donor, Finnish-born billionaire Poju Zabludowicz.
Widely regarded as at the head of an emerging new wave of British-Jewish leaders, he is Bicom’s “main man,” according to one former Israel lobbyist: “He is a major asset to the community and highly under-rated.” Mr Zabludowicz heads the Tamares investment group, whose portfolio includes a large slice of downtown Las Vegas. With a personal fortune estimated at £2 billion by this year’s Sunday Times “Rich List,” he recently donated £15,000 to the David Cameron-led Conservatives.
Bicom’s deputy chairman and a driving force behind its new strategy is Michael Lewis, a South African emigré whose business interests run from retail and restaurants to biotechnology. He is also the UJIA’s campaign chairman.
Bicom’s 27-member board includes several familiar faces: Community Security Trust chairman Gerald Ronson, UJIA president Sir Trevor Chinn, and Lord Janner, as well as former UJIA chairman Brian Kerner.
Among others are Isaac Kaye, a veteran supporter of Israel, former UJIA chief executive Jonathan Kestenbaum, and Board of Deputies president Henry Grunwald.
Another name to watch is the vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Committee against Antisemitism, Trevor Pears, whose family foundation has become a major funder of Jewish causes.
Bicom has also secured the vital support of some major players in the financial world, among them Michael Sherwood, co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs International, who took part in Bicom’s fundraising mission to Israel last year. Other participants with a previous Goldman Sachs link included husband and wife Ron Beller (now on the board) and Jennifer Moses. Also on the trip was Conservative Friends of Israel chairman Richard Harrington, and husband and wife Edward and Celia Atkin, who sold their business, the baby-bottle firm Cannon Avent, last year for £300 million.
Guests on September’s US mission, who hope to meet Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, have been asked to pledge a “five-figure sum,” says one person invited.
Kalms’s EU warning
01/02/2007
Top Tory donor Lord Kalms has warned that the Conservatives could lose votes unless they temper their current level of support for the European Union.
The peer, who attacked critical remarks by David Cameron and Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague about Israel’s tactics in the Lebanon war, is known to be a leading Euro-sceptic.
However, he told the JC that reports that he was considering leaving the party for the United Kingdom Independence Party were wide of the mark.
“I am not going to Ukip, nor do I have any intention of voting for them,” he said. “I just believe that some people will not vote for us because of Europe.”
These men are courting you
15/03/2007
By Bernard Josephs
Chancellor Gordon Brown and his Tory challenger David Cameron are courting the Jewish community as Mr Brown prepares for a probable move to 10 Downing Street when Tony Blair steps down as Prime Minister.
In the next month, the Chancellor is to be guest speaker at two prestigious events, the Board of Deputies’ main fundraising dinner and Labour Friends of Israel’s annual luncheon.
“We will be delighted to welcome him,” said LFI chair, Jane Kennedy MP.
Mr Cameron, who recently returned from a visit to Israel, is due to address the Conservative Friends of Israel’s luncheon in June. “We hope he will have some very positive things to say about his trip. He can be assured of a warm welcome,” said a CFI spokesperson.
The Chancellor’s events, both in April, are likely to cement his ties with the Jewish community, which have been underlined by his friendship with Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, whose daughter Gila is one of his economic advisers.
Mr Brown is also close to Sir Ronald Cohen, a significant Labour donor, whose Portland Trust has supported his vision of an economic road map to Middle East peace.
|
Races? Only one Human race United We Stand, Divided We Fall |
 |
No time to waste. Act now! Tomorrow it will be too late |
|
