Alistair Burt: UK could ‘step in’ to Israel-Palestine peace process
Former Middle East minister says Britain could fill a hole left by the USA's changing regional role, while speaking at a RUSI conference
Former Middle East Minister Alistair Burt has said the UK could “step in” to the peace process now that the United States has changed its role.
Burt, who resigned as minister over Brexit in March this year, was speaking at a one-day Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) conference earlier this month, organised by think-tank BICOM, exploring UK strategy in the Middle East after Brexit.
He said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be “kept on the shelf somewhere, unresolved,” adding: “If it is not settled, justly for the Palestinians and with security for Israel, something bad is going to happen.”
On the UK’s involvement, Burt said: “The failure to handle this longstanding dispute creates another layer of uncertainty. As the US changes its role in the peace process, who steps in? Here I can see a role for us.”
Other speakers included Baroness Catherine Ashton, the EU’s former foreign policy chief, and Sir Mark Lyall Grant, a former senior diplomat who was the UK’s former national security advisor and top envoy to the United Nations.
Burt, who has twice served as Middle East Minister in the past nine years, explained that he had been “interested in the Middle East since I was at school as a child during the Six-Day War with many Jewish friends in Manchester”.
He said: “As I got older, my understanding of the Palestinian issue became much more nuanced. I have realised that you have to see every issue from all points of view.”
With talk of war with Iran, Burt warned that “nobody wins wars in the region anymore,” adding: “Iran gained from the wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen without doing much except taking advantage of the situation.”
BICOM researcher Dr Toby Greene, who lives in Modi’in in central Israel, said increased tensions in the Gulf were likely to be on the minds of Israeli military planners.
“There’s a hill about a mile from my apartment building where they have a base for the Iron Dome. The actual missile defence battery isn’t there all the time. There’s only a finite number and the IDF moves them around, depending on where it thinks the threats and the needs might be.
“You can see from the road if the missile battery is there or not. When it shows up, it puts us on notice that the IDF thinks there is an increased possibility of missiles. A week ago, in the context of tensions in the Gulf between the US and Iran, what do you know – the Iron Dome battery showed up on the hill.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
