UK Conservative Party Pledges to Ban Boycotts of Israel

The legislation would prevent local governments and universities from endorsing BDS efforts and ban tax-payer money from being used to support organizations that promote boycotts.

By United with Israel Staff

The UK’s Conservative Tory Party, led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and the far-left Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, both published their manifestos in the run-up to the country’s elections on December 12.

According to the Tory’s manifesto, published on Sunday, the UK would ban public bodies from participating in anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activities, which are promoted by a group that seeks the Jewish state’s destruction and its replacement with a Palestinian state.

The legislation would prevent local government bodies and universities from endorsing BDS efforts and ban tax-payer money from being used to support organizations that promote BDS.

“We will ban public bodies from imposing their own direct or indirect boycotts, divestment or sanctions campaigns against foreign countries. These undermine community cohesion,” the document said.

Additionally, the document pledges to increase funding to protect houses of worship, combat harassment and violence against all religions, and “stand against terrorism and extremism around the world.”

In contrast, the Labour Party’s manifesto, published Thursday, calls for an end to weapons sales to Israel.

While Israel is the only country in the world that makes Herculean efforts to avoid civilian causalities in its fight against terror, the Labour manifesto claimed that Israel uses arms “in violation of the human rights of Palestinian civilians.”

Labour also demdands “a root-and-branch reform of our arms exports regime so ministers can never again turn a blind eye to British-made weapons being used to target innocent civilians.”

The Israeli military never “targets” innocent civilians, unlike Palestinian teror groups that routinely and intentionally kill Israeli civilians, with rocket attacks, stabbings, bombs, car-rammings, and shootings.

Corbyn openly supports the BDS movement against Israel and has presided over Labour during a period in which virulent Jew-hatred has spread like wildfire among his ranks, which have promoted holocaust denial, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, and sympathy for Islamic terror groups.

Polls found that just six percent of UK Jews plan to vote for Labour while nearly half would “seriously consider” emigrating if Corbyn is elected, according to Times of Israel. A whopping 87 percent of those polled believe that Corbyn is an anti-Semite.

BDS is a Palestinian-led, anti-Israel campaign founded in 2005. Several countries have since introduced laws criminalizing BDS, including Israel, the US and France.

UK Chief Rabbi: Labour is ‘Poisonous’

Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, in a column published on Monday in British daily The Times, wrote that a “new poison” has taken root in the Labour Party.

“The question I am now most frequently asked is: What will become of Jews and Judaism in Britain if the Labour Party forms the next government?” he wrote. “This anxiety is justified. Raising concerns about anti-Jewish racism in the context of a general election ranks among the most painful moments I have experienced since taking office.”

Noting the unprecedented political stand the chief rabbi is publicly taking, he explained that “challenging racism is not a matter of politics, it goes well beyond that.”

Though Mirvis did not explicitly write who to vote for, he asked, “What will the result of this election say about the moral compass of our country?” He then added,  “When December 12 arrives, I ask every person to vote with their conscience. Be in no doubt, the very soul of our nation is at stake.”