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Robert Jenrick has said the Star of David should be displayed at every point of entry to the UK to show “we stand with Israel”.
The Tory leadership frontrunner told a Conservative Friends of Israel event he wanted Britain to be “the most welcoming country in the world for Israelis and the Jewish community”.
He said that, while immigration minister, he had pushed for Israelis travelling to Britain to be able to use e-gates. He said this would mean that at “every airport and point of entry to our great country”, there was a Star of David, as a “symbol that we support Israel”.
On stage at the event, Mr Jenrick wore a black hoodie emblazoned with the words “Hamas Are Terrorists”, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Mr Jenrick also used his remarks to promise that, if he became prime minister, he would move the British embassy to Jerusalem.
“If the Foreign Office or the civil servants don’t want to do it, I will build it myself,” he added.
Liz Truss had previously planned to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which both Israel and Palestinians claim as their capital, but the plans were abandoned by Rishi Sunak.
Mr Jenrick told the Conservative Friends of Israel event: “I want this country to be the most welcoming country in the world for Israelis and for the Jewish community.
“And a small thing that I fought for when I was the immigration minister was to ensure that every Israeli citizen could enter our country through the e-gate, through the easy access, so that at every airport and point of entry to our great country, there is the Star of David there as a symbol that we support Israel, we stand with Israel. We are friends and allies of Israel, and Israelis are welcome in our country.”
Addressing the same event, shadow foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell said that those who fought against Nazi Germany and South African apartheid would “turn in their graves” at the words “genocide” and “apartheid” being applied to the situation in the Middle East.
And he added: “In parliament, on the streets of London, in university campuses around the world, we have witnessed a form of hysteria. Words like apartheid, genocide.
“Words that would make those who fought against Hitler and against the apartheid in South Africa turn in their graves. The vitriolic outpouring of hostility has crossed all boundaries of sane debate.
“Some of it may be well intentioned; people must be free to express their anger, and protest [about] the government of Israel and the genuine humanitarian concerns for the suffering we are witnessing.”
