UK politician: Pro-Israel lobby controls
West
Baroness Jenny Tonge: "The pro-Israeli lobby has
got its grips on the Western World, its financial grips. I think
they’ve probably got a certain grip on our
party"
By Hagit Kleinman
YNetnews.com / Israel News, 09.21.2006
Baroness Jenny Tonge, a former British parliament member from the
Liberal-Democrat party, was invited for a clarification discussion
with the party leader following outbursts she made against 'the
Israeli lobby' at a pro-Palestinian solidarity event.
"The pro-Israeli lobby has got its grips on the Western World, its
financial grips. I think they’ve probably got a certain grip on
our party,” Tonge said.
Senior sources in the Liberal-Democrat party expressed revulsion
from her comments. Jewish and Israeli sources in Britain described
her comments as being anti-Semitic, and pointed out that Tone was
removed from her parliamentary job in 2004, after she said she
understood the hearts of Palestinian suicide bombers.
The Daily Express newspaper, one of the media outlets to report on
the episode, tied Tonge's comments to a confrontation between the
party and the Israeli embassy in London, following a decision by
Ambassador Zvi Hefetz to boycott the opening of the annual party
conference, due to the position of the Liberal Democrats' party
leader on the war in Lebanon.
The confrontation took place after Liberal-Democrats leader
Menzies Campbell sent a letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair
calling on him to place an arms embargo on Israel. During the same
day Campbell met with Ambassador Hefetz in parliament, and discussed
the situation in the Middle East – though he did not tell Hefetz
about the letter he sent to Blair.
'Anti-Semitic expression'
When Hefetz learned of the letter, he sent a letter to Campbell in
which he tried to explain to him why he saw his request for an arms
embargo on Israel as being a one-sided stance. Embassy spokesman in
London, Lior Ben Dor, told Ynet that Hefetz did not yet receive a
reply to his letter.
At the start of the week, Hefetz sent Campbell another letter in
which he informed him that although he was invited to the annual
conference of his party, like every year, he cold not take part in
the event due to the one-sided stance his party took during the
war.
Responding to Tonge's comments, Hefetz told Ynet: "I assume that
if these comments were made before the publication of the report on
anti-Semitism of the independent parliamentary commission, which
found a rise in anti-Semitism in Britain, the comments of the
baroness would serve as an example of anti-Semitic expression."
The embassy spokesman stressed that despite the boycott of the
Liberal-Democrats conference, "we are interested in continuing the
dialogue and relations with the Liberal-Democrat party like with
every other party."
