Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom Tzipi Hotovely, in a conversation with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News, condemned the South African petition against Israel in the International Court of Justice and noted that the country where she represents Israel stands with the Jewish state.
"The International Court of Justice created a theater of trying to put Israel, which is the victim of the 7th of October terror actions, and to accuse Israel of things that it was actually Hamas that which should be blamed for genocide. It is very clear to us that the only entity that should be blamed in the court is Hamas," says Hotovely.
She explains her and her staff's work to ensure that British people and leadership are informed of what is occurring. "Hamas's actions are still shocking to the British people. We, as the Israeli Embassy, make sure that everyone is exposed to the IDF Spokesperson's raw footage that shows what happened. We had another group of very important people who came to the embassy to watch it."
According to her, "The British government and leadership stand with Israel, they support the fact that this procedure in The Hague is inappropriate, it is not the appropriate way to go. It's definitely not describing the situation in Gaza. Foreign Secretary David Camron said yesterday in Parliament that what's happening in Gaza is not genocide and the British government does not believe that this is the right way to go."
Hotovely adds: "We get incredible support, not just by declarations, but also by actions through the security cooperation between Israel and the UK. Israel and the UK have a very strong intelligence cooperation, only second to the US and Israel's cooperation. I think that exactly at this time when we need our friends, we can find British senior advisors coming to help us. Intelligence cooperation regarding the hostages and we see the international coalition against the Houthis that is now taking place, helping us with international trade and making sure international trade is not harmed by the Houthis' actions."
The Ambassador says that there is a very strong pro-Palestinian movement in London which can be seen at demonstrations that are held every weekend. "My house has been under demonstration for the last few months since the war started and we get to see many pro-Palestinians calling 'From the river to the sea,' and calling 'Free Palestine,' so we just clarify in all our formal diplomatic dialogues that saying 'from the river to the sea' and 'Free Palestine' basically is calling for a total annihilation of the State of Israel," she recounts.
Hotovely stresses the importance of continuously fighting lies while advocating for Israel. "One of the things we do, thanks to our great spokesperson Orly, is every time there is something inaccurate in the British media, especially when we had this ongoing debate with the BBC, we make sure that there will be an official public apology. So they apologized just yesterday, it was published in the British Times. They need to be accountable for publishing things that are not accurate and are not based in fact, and definitely when they just copy Hamas messaging."
Ambassador Hotovely believes that enforcing media accuracy is part of the battle over how the Israeli case is presented. She says it is vital to continue bringing the stories of the people who were hurt, the sexual violence, which she says was a big piece in the Sunday Times, and the fact that we have many stories of women who are still kept hostage by Hamas, which was published in the Daily Mail this week. "The idea behind advocating for Israel is to never stop. Keep on doing the campaign, keep fighting the lies, this is the only way to win."
Regarding the Jewish community in the UK, Hotovely confirms that there is a rise in antisemitism in Britain. "The Jewish community, in many parts, feels this violent language, Jihadi language, is something that puts a big threat on Jewish life in London. I know how much the government is committed to fighting antisemitism. We believe that Jewish people should feel safe everywhere and as someone who feels part of the Jewish community, I can tell you that there are days when it feels very dangerous. And I really hope that people will understand how dangerous things like calling 'from the river to the sea' and glorifying terrorism are."