Former Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, has said there is “a tendency to not support Israel as much as I would like in the Foreign Office,” and revealed that she had to intervene on occasions during her time in Downing Street to ensure Britain supported Israel.
Liz Truss made her comments in an interview with ITV’s Robert Peston in a week that the former PM did the media rounds to promote her new book.
“Do you think that David Cameron, the current foreign secretary, is supportive enough of Israel?” Peston asked Truss in the interview.
“I would like to see more support for Israel,” Truss replied, “I advocated a more pro-Israel policy when I ran to be Prime Minister and whilst I was foreign secretary.”
Truss revealed how she had to sometimes intervene to ensure Britain voted favourably towards Israel at the UN.
“On some occasions, I had to actively intervene with officials to get them to vote in a more pro-Israel way, at the United Nations.
“So there definitely is a tendency to not support Israel as much as I would like in the Foreign Office. And I think that always needs to be challenged.”
Asked again by Peston whether Cameron has been, she replied, “I’m concerned when we are not wholly supportive of Israel and what Israel needs to do to take on the appalling terrorist threat and to take on the forces in the Middle East that are determined to see the end of Israel.”
.@Peston: “Do you think that David Cameron, the current Foreign Secretary, is supportive enough of Israel?”@trussliz: “I would like to see more support for Israel”
The Former Prime Minister says she’s “concerned” the Foreign Office is “not wholly supportive of Israel”#Peston pic.twitter.com/SYqQPSBEpf
— Peston (@itvpeston) April 17, 2024
Truss has been speaking to the media ahead of the publication of her book: Ten Years to Save the West where she outlines her time in government as well as her wider political view on the future issues the UK and other countries face.
During her media tour, Truss went as far as telling the BBC she did not “see a purpose for the UN as it stands.”
She said: “At present, it has been very ineffective at dealing with international situations, in fact positively damaging, for example, on Israel.”
While Prime Minister in 2022, Liz Truss said she was considering relocating the UK embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, but this was scrapped by her successor Rishi Sunak following pressure from pro-Palestinian groups and even leaders of the Church of England and Catholic Church.
