- Tzipi Hotovely said freedom of speech needed to be limited to prevent hate
- Ambassador said friends in Israel feel London is less safe than Israel
The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Tzipi Hotovely, has said that London feels less safe for Jews than Israel.
The ambassador told the Daily Telegraph that the Jewish community felt fear due to ‘jihad ideology’ witnessed during pro-Palestinian protests in the capital city over the past month.
Hotovely, who has previously been called ‘zionist scum’ and harassed by angry mobs on Britain’s streets, said that whilst we live in a democracy, freedom of speech needed to be limited to prevent people spouting hatred.
She told the outlet: ‘Since those demonstrations started, I keep getting WhatsApp messages from friends in Israel. They ask me, do you feel safe there? Do Jews feel safe?
‘They feel like London is less safe during this war than Israel. They see the same jihadi ideology on the streets of London as in Gaza and they wonder what is going on.’
Hotovely, who was the first woman ever appointed to her position, has herself has been subjected to vile anti-semitic abuse whilst speaking across Britain.
Last year, she was branded ‘Zionist scum’ by protesters who tried to block her car as she attended a Cambridge Union debate.
The protesters were heard chanting Hamas slogans and set off flares as they demonstrated.
In 2021, she herself branded hard-Left activists ‘shameful’ after they tried to intimidate her following a lecture at the London School of Economics.
The diplomat was harassed by an angry mob after delivering a lecture to the LSE’s student union debating society.
On the 28 October, more than 500,000 demonstrators shut down central London to demand for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Crowds gathered near the Golden Jubilee Bridge holding signs saying ‘Gaza, stop the massacre’ and ‘Free Palestine, end Israeli occupation’.
More protests have been planned, including on November 11 – on Remembrance Day.
The Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has insisted that any demonstrations will not ‘collide or interfere’ with Remembrance Day.
She insisted to The Telegraph that ‘this is not just Israel-Palestine,’ and said that her message to British people is that the ideology which is being ‘chanted on the streets in London was same ideology that took down the Twin Towers in New York.’
Writing for the Daily Mail on the 12 October, Ms Hotovely said: ‘In the UK, anti-Semitism is on the rise – a 324 per cent rise from this period last year – and as a mother here, it truly pains me to read that pupils of Jewish schools in this country have been told not to wear their blazers on the way to school.’
Speaking about Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October, Ms Hotovely said that the terrorist group ‘tied children up and burned them together.’
She said she knew this because of ‘the smoke inhalation in the children’s throats and lungs’.
Ms Hotovely, the first woman to become Israel’s ambassador to London, told the outlet: ‘It’s clear that nothing will be the same again. This is a watershed moment in our life.
‘I truly believe that, no matter how many investigations we will do, the biggest question is how come human beings can commit those types of atrocities.’
She believes that it is crucial to call Hamas terrorists after the BBC dodged the word. Instead the BBC refers to Hamas as a ‘militant’ group and described the slaughter of civilians as a ‘militant’ attack.
Writing for the Daily Mail, she said: ‘Militants do not behead babies. Terrorists do. ‘Gunmen’ do not rape innocent girls. Terrorists do.
‘Fighters’ do not burn innocent people alive in front of their families, forcing them to watch. Terrorists do.’
Downing Street has heaped pressure on the BBC.
Last month a No10 source said: ‘As the PM has said repeatedly, Hamas are terrorists. It is incumbent on our national broadcaster to recognise this fact.’
BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson wrote an article on the corporation’s website which read: ‘It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn – who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.
‘We regularly point out that the British and other governments have condemned Hamas as a terrorist organisation, but that’s their business.
‘Our business is to present our audiences with the facts, and let them make up their own minds.’
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘Every Saturday, central London is becoming a hostile, no-go zone for Jews. It is astounding at how quickly this has become the new ‘norm’.
‘We are hearing from Londoners, who have lived in the capital their entire lives, that they are considering leaving their lives here in Britain due to fears for their own safety.
‘Londoners cannot and will not tolerate a situation in which every weekend it becomes common to see an exhibition of extremism on our streets become extremism.
‘The Met is creating the conditions in which not only London’s Jews but all Londoners could be placed in serious danger. Extremists rarely limit themselves to extreme language.
‘We need action by the authorities responsible for keeping Britain safe.’
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
