Rishi Sunak is set to become the next UK Prime Minister after the Conservative Party announced him as new leader.

We take a look at some of the comments he made during the original leadership campaign in which he came second to Liz Truss.

IRAN

Sunak said he would seek“a new, strengthened nuclear deal that extends the sunset clauses, lengthens the breakout period and curtails Iran’s ballistic missile program. The credible threat of snapback sanctions, which has so far been missing from the negotiations, is the only way we can force Iran to seriously engage with these proposals.

“Iran’s quest for regional hegemony and the threat it poses to Israel concerns me deeply. We cannot allow Iran to possess a nuclear weapon and the UK and Israel must enhance our diplomatic, defense and intelligence cooperation to prevent this from happening.”

Sunak said that recent Iranian moves to acquire more enriched uranium and its continued rejection of a new deal to curb its nuclear ambitions meant the clock was at “two minutes to midnight”.

He said: “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 also said proscription of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps must also “be on the table.”

ANTI-ISRAEL BOYCOTTS

Sunak recalled his work as minister for local government to stop municipalities from boycotting Israel. “We must now deliver on our manifesto commitment and bring forward the [BDS] bill to outlaw it in full,” he said.

He said the Israel “apartheid” claim, made prominently in a report by Amnesty International earlier this year, could only make a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict more elusive, because many who endorsed it believed Israel should not exist at all.

“With remarkable frequency it emerges that those who label Israel an apartheid state also deny Israel’s right to exist. It is a claim that stands as an obstacle to peace and the government should be calling it out at the UN and wherever else it is used.

“The apartheid claim is not only factually incorrect but quite frankly offensive. Like any nation, Israel is not perfect — but it is a vibrant multi-ethnic democracy with a free press and the rule of law. It stands as a shining beacon of hope in a region of autocracies and religious extremists.”

ANTISEMITISM

Sunak voiced strong support for the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, saying he was “proud that the UK was the first country in the world to adopt the IHRA definition, and as Local Government Minister I worked hard to roll out the definition among local councils”. He added: “Good progress has been made by councils, universities and sports clubs and we should be encouraging all other public bodies to adopt it. But adopting IHRA is just the beginning. It needs to be actively applied and there is much more we could be doing in this space.”

He said the IHRA definition was also a “crucial tool” in fighting antisemitism on campus: “Antisemitism is a real blind spot for many student activists who are otherwise committed anti-racists.”

“Good progress has been made rolling out the definition across UK universities. Over 100 UK and Irish universities have adopted the definition, but there is still progress to be made and the Department of Education needs to continue to work with universities to not only adopt the IHRA definition but, crucially, apply it when incidents of antisemitism arise.”

“I have committed to making the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre free to visit in perpetuity and I would like to see this built as soon as possible in Victoria Gardens as a powerful signal of the importance we attach to remembering the Holocaust and the lessons it teaches us all.”

AGAINST PALESTINIAN TERROR

“I share concerns about the conduct of the Palestinian Authority, and in particular their glorification of terror attacks against Israel and their refusal to remove antisemitic content from the curriculum,” Mr Sunak said during the leadership campaign. “But the only route to a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians is through the resumption of direct negotiations, and that involves engaging with the Palestinian Authority.

JERUSALEM & FOREIGN POLICY

In an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, Sunak said, “The historic Abraham Accords proved that peace between Israel and her Arab neighbours is possible, and have demonstrated the tremendous benefits that normalisation brings.

“The UK is in a strong position to leverage its historic relationships with other Gulf states to widen the Accords and I would like to see UK diplomats place a greater focus on this.”

Sunak didn’t make any promises relating to Britain moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but CUFI will be calling upon the new Prime Minister to pick up from Liz Truss’s commitment to review its location and urging him to move the embassy to Israel’s capital.

But Sunak did give his thoughts on the prospect of such a move. During a hustings meeting, Sunak said, “To me, it’s indisputably the historic capital. Clearly there’s a very strong case for it to be recognised. The point I was making then, as I would make now, is I’m very open to looking at that, and all I would say is, having not been Foreign Secretary, there must be some sensitivities involved because if it was that easy, it would have been done by now.”

 

 

“And before saying ‘yes, it could be done overnight’, I’d like to get in there and [understand] the reasons why its proved so difficult, but prima facie, it seems to me that there is a very strong case to it, to recognise what is a historic and practical step.

“You talked before about our American allies. Again, it would be something where we’d be acting in concert with our allies in the region and, in general, one of our closest allies, so it’s something I’d like to do.”

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