Dwindling British mainstream political support for Israel.

The problem with Gould’s comments is that in ten-year’s time the status quo will not exist. Ten years is ample time for the settlement enterprise, and yes, I’m sure at that point the international community will be annoyed, but at a very different problem and landscape. Also, the title of this article is amusing:

As Israel hemorrhages British political support, its supporters watch impotently

Speaking to Israeli TV earlier this month British ambassador Matthew Gould said Israel was increasingly losing support among middle-ground politicians in the UK because of its aggressive settlement policies.

His comments confirm other indications of increased mainstream support for Palestine in the political mainstream, as I showed in a feature for EI last month.

The Guardian reports that:

In an unusually forthright interview for Israel’s Channel 10 news, Gould said he detected a shift among the middle ground of British members of parliament towards a more critical view of Israel.

“Israelis might wake up in 10 years’ time and find out that the level of understanding in the international community has suddenly changed, and that patience for continuing the status quo has reduced,” he said.

“Support for Israel is starting to erode and that’s not about these people on the fringe who are shouting loudly and calling for boycotts and all the rest of it. The interesting category are those members of parliament in the middle, and in that group I see a shift.”

It’s interesting to note that, according to The Guardian, Gould said the “shift was a result of Israeli government policies… [and suggested] that it could not be countered or obscured by hasbara” or Israeli propaganda campaigns.