Next UK Prime Minister a Strong Friend of Israel

Rishi Sunak supports moving embassy to Jerusalem, anti-BDS legislation, and applying IHRA’s antisemitism definition to British institutions.

By Pesach Benson, United with Israel

Rishi Sunak will become Britain’s next Prime Minister after former PM Boris Johnson announced on Sunday he did not plan to run for leadership of the Conservative Party.

Sunak, a 42-year-old former hedge-fund manager who is of Indian descent, has good relations with Britain’s Jewish community and has voiced support for Israel on a number of occasions. The winner of the Conservative Party leadership race will automatically become Prime Minister without a general election.

He was runner-up to Liz Truss in the race for Tory leadership after Boris Johnson resigned in July amid a string of ethics scandals.

Sunak and Israel

During his campaign for party leadership, Sunak appeared at a Conservative Friends of Israel gathering in July where he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s “historic capital” and supported Truss’s views on relocating Britain’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying there was a “strong case” for the move.

At the same meeting, Sunak also said he wanted anti-BDS legislation on the parliamentary agenda, and criticized Amnesty International’s controversial report accusing Israel of carrying out apartheid against the Palestinians, calling it “completely wrong, and quite frankly, offensive.”

In an August interview with London’s Jewish Chronicle, Sunak called Israel “shining beacon of hope,” and called for more British institutions to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. Britain adopted IHRA’s definition in 2018, the first government to do so.

On the issue of Iran, Sunak told the JC, “A nuclear-armed Iran would pose an existential threat to Israel and embolden Iran’s web of terrorist groups throughout the region. We urgently need a new, strengthened deal and the credible threat of snapback sanctions is the only way we can force Iran to seriously engage with this.”

Sunak’s Rise

Truss resigned after just 45 days in office, the shortest-serving prime minister in British history.

She was undermined by deeply unpopular economic policies. The value of the British pound plummeted, which sparked a sudden rise in interest rates, inflation and cost of living. Her leadership was further undermined by the firings and resignations of several senior economic officials.

Sunak had served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, the government’s chief financial minister, under Johnson. But he resigned in July in protest over Johnson’s handling of sexual harassment allegations against fellow Conservative MP Chris Pincher.

Sunak did not hold a cabinet position in Truss’s government, remaining untouched by Britain’s economic plunge.

Other Tories vying for party leadership include Penny Mordaunt, who has served as Leader of the House of Commons, and the lesser-known Brandon Lewis, who served as Secretary of Justice under Truss.

The opposition Labor party has been pushing for a national vote, and it’s possible the Conservatives might call a snap election at some point in the future. Otherwise, Britain’s next election will take place in January 2025.

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