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Source: https://www.dailymail.com/debate/article-16115579/act-Muslim-Labour-Greens-JAKE-WALLIS-SIMONS.html
Britain Sanctioning Israel Is a Monumental Act of National Self-Harm
(Daily Mail-UK) Jake Wallis Simons - On Tuesday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced sanctions against Israel. At a stroke, they managed to cast into doubt our bilateral relationship with the region's only democracy - which brings thousands of jobs and billions of pounds into our economy, not to mention collaborations on security, military hardware and tech. On the whole, Israel is by far the freest society in the region, for Muslims as well as Jews and Christians. Where else would you find Pride month being celebrated in the Middle East? Or Muslim women participating freely in society? Or Christians living their lives in safety and happiness? Answer: Nowhere. By comparison, that fragile democracy is surrounded by authoritarian, corrupt and failing states as far as the eye can see. Many of them harbor tens of thousands of jihadists, whose bloodlust for infidels draws little distinction between an Israeli or a Briton. When did Palestinian intelligence services last save British lives? When did Palestinian trade boost our economy, or Palestinian tech strengthen our Armed Forces or National Health Service? Last year, the UK even recognized a "state of Palestine" while emaciated Israeli hostages were languishing in the tunnels under Gaza; evidently, it did not occur to the government to demand their release first. Given the state of Britain's public finances and defense, damaging our relations with Israel, with its booming economy, cutting-edge tech and world-beating security and intelligence services, is woefully irresponsible. In 2025, Britain sold Israel 3.5 billion pounds of goods and services and bought 2.4 billion in return. 22 Israeli-linked companies are listed in London, with a combined market capitalization of 8.5 billion pounds. That's a fair bit of profit - not to mention a fair number of jobs - that our people stand to lose. For what? One in eight packs of medication in Britain is produced by the Israeli pharma company Teva, which employs 1,500 people on our shores. Our new Challenger 3 tanks will come equipped with Israeli automatic defense systems.