Rishi Sunak, who is pro-Israel, nevertheless caves to pressure and reneges on commitment to move British embassy to Jerusalem.
By United with Israel Staff
Britain’s new prime minister has reneged on a commitment made by his predecessor, Liz Truss, to move the country’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the UK Jewish News reported.
“It has been looked at,” Sunak’s spokesperson stated on Thursday. “There are no plans to move the British embassy.”
Sunak is apparently caving in to pressure. He was reportedly warned that the “entire governmental system” would be in an uproar if he carried out the promise to move the embassy, made by his predecessor Liz Truss during her mere 44 days in office.
“已经研究过了，”苏纳克的发言人周四表示。 “没有搬迁英国大使馆的计划。” 苏纳克显然屈服于压力。据报道，他被警告说，如果他履行他的前任利兹·特拉斯 (Liz Truss) 在任职仅 44 天时做出的搬迁大使馆的承诺，“整个政府系统”将会一片哗然。 “The PM was left in no doubt of the strength of opposition he would face if he continued to proceed to the embassy proposal,” a source told the Jewish News. Truss, who touted herself as a “huge Zionist,” had told outgoing Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September that she was reviewing an embassy move. Sunak, a 42-year-old former hedge-fund manager of Indian descent, has good relations with Britain’s Jewish community and has voiced support for Israel on several occasions. During his campaign to take over as head of the Conservative party, Sunak told the Conservative Friends of Israel that Jerusalem is “undisputedly the historic capital.” He supported Truss’s views on relocating Britain’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying there was a “strong case” for the move. “Clearly, there’s a very strong case for it to be recognised … so it is something I would like to do.” 一位消息人士告诉《犹太新闻》：“毫无疑问，如果总理继续推进大使馆提案，他将面临强烈的反对。” 自称为“巨大的犹太复国主义者”的特拉斯在 9 月的联合国大会期间告诉即将卸任的以色列总理亚尔拉皮德，她正在审查大使馆的举动。 现年 42 岁的印度裔前对冲基金经理苏纳克与英国犹太社区关系良好，曾多次表示支持以色列。 在竞选保守党领袖期间，苏纳克告诉以色列保守党之友，耶路撒冷“毫无疑问是历史悠久的首都”。他支持特拉斯关于将英国大使馆从特拉维夫迁至耶路撒冷的观点，称此举有“强有力的理由”。 “显然，有一个非常有力的理由让它得到认可……所以这是我想做的事情。”