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Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/26/burnham-attacks-israel-dangerously-naive/
UK Prime Minister's Attacks on Israel Are Dangerously Naive
(Telegraph-UK) Con Coughlin - In one of his first major foreign policy initiatives, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is planning to impose a ban on trade with Israeli communities in the West Bank, the type of empty gesture politics normally reserved for university campuses. The only constituency likely to applaud such a move would be those who believe our national interest is best served by supporting Islamist death cults such as Hamas and Hizbullah. Does Burnham genuinely believe the UK would benefit from indulging in a gratuitous attack on a key Middle East ally like Israel? Apart from the fact that Burnham's plan to sanction such trade is unworkable - it is virtually impossible to identify goods and produce emanating specifically from these communities - it is hard to imagine a less opportune moment for Britain to pick a fight with Israel. As if the Iranian attack on a UK power station was not sufficient proof of Tehran's hostile intent, Iran has been accused of plotting assassinations in the UK against dissidents, journalists and Jewish communities. The regime has also paid criminal gangs to target government buildings and threatened to attack British bases used by U.S. forces. Iran's violent response in the Gulf, where it has repeatedly attacked the national infrastructure of Gulf states that have no involvement in the U.S. war against the ayatollahs, shows just how indiscriminate the ayatollahs can be. It would be helpful if the UK had access to Israel's considerable intelligence on Iran's military capabilities and extensive terror network. But it is unlikely there will be much intelligence-sharing as long as Burnham feels this is a good moment to pick a pointless fight with Israel. If Iran increases its attacks against UK interests, whether they involve more cyber hacks or major terror attacks on British soil, Britain will need all the allies it can muster. As far as Iran is concerned, there is no better ally than Israel, which is why British intelligence officials have spent the past decade developing close intelligence-sharing ties with Mossad to monitor Iran's nuclear and terrorist activities.