Israel's bravery shames our pusillanimous Prime Minister

Telegraph

17 hours ago

It would, to say the least, be helpful if we had a Prime Minister who understood even his own supposed principles. Since taking office last year, Sir Keir Starmer has been admirably strong and consistent in supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression, at least in his statements, if not in actual firepower.
But his response to the Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear and military sites is not just naïve, it is pusillanimous and shows how empty a vessel he really is: 'The reports of these strikes are concerning and we urge all parties to step back and reduce tensions urgently. Escalation serves no one in the region. Stability in the Middle East must be the priority and we are engaging partners to de-escalate. Now is the time for restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy.'
Starmer grasps the need to stand up to Putin's aggression, but crumbles into spineless diplo-speak when confronted by a theocratic tyranny.
For a leader with a clear understanding of the Iranian threat – of reality, in other words – there should be relief, not consternation. Just yesterday, for example, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declared that Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations, refusing to answer questions on uranium particles found in undeclared sites in the country and the stockpiling of uranium enriched to nearly weapons grade. Iran then revealed it is operating a previously secret new uranium enrichment centre. The threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon has not been theoretical but very real and increasingly imminent.
According to Sir Keir, 'Now is the time for restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy.' This is the precise opposite of what it is the time for. Diplomacy led us to the disastrous Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which relaxed sanctions on the regime, handed it huge amounts of money from oil exports, and thus funded not just the Iranian proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis but the nuclear weapons programme.
In this sense Israel has been acting not only on its own behalf but on behalf of all those Middle Eastern states which have been destabilised by Iran – and on behalf of the West itself.
This is a familiar story; twice before Israel has saved us all from nuclear enemies, in 1981 when it destroyed Saddam's reactor in Iraq and in 2007 when it destroyed Assad's facilities in Syria.
One irony of this is that the so-called Free Palestine brigade, who will doubtless be back on the streets soon, should be cheering Israel today – if they genuinely cared about securing a Palestinian state. There are reports that the UK is on the verge of recognising such an entity next week at the special UN conference called by France. But there will never be a secure and stable Palestinian state while Iran continues to spread its malign influence through its proxies – and should it acquire a nuclear weapon the prospect of a Palestinian state would be the first casualty.
Contrary to Sir Keir's spineless timidity, this is the time for action by a clear eyed state which understands the threat posed by its enemy and is willing to act to defend itself by neutering that threat. Far from stopping now as Sir Keir urges, it is essential that Israel finishes the job it began last night. Israel has not started a war – it has prevented one.