Cameron breaks clean politics pledge with honor for Israel lobbyist

David Cronin Lobby Watch 26 October 2015

David Cameron heads a government that is “proud” to support Israel’s crimes. (The Open University/Flickr)

Before he became the UK’s prime minister, David Cameron vowed to “come clean about who is buying power and influence” in Westminster.

Cameron broke that promise when he recently appointed Stuart Polak, a veteran lobbyist for Israel and the arms industry, to the House of Lords.

For the past quarter century, Polak has been a director with Conservative Friends of Israel, a pressure group inside the current ruling party. He has combined that post with running a consultancy firm that puts corporations in touch with lawmakers.

Rules applying to the House of Lords stipulate that its members will “declare all relevant interests in order to make clear what are the interests that might reasonably be thought to influence their parliamentary actions.” The rules add that “information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for doing so.”

Polak is not living up to these requirements. His entry in the Lords’ register states that he is a director of TWC Associates yet does not list that consultancy firm’s clients.

According to the website of TWC Associates (formerly The Westminster Connection), references for its clients are made available on request. Last week I contacted the firm asking for such references. I did not receive a reply.

That secrecy wouldn’t be so serious if Polak was planning to spend his time in the Lords focusing on a topic like wetlands conservation. Yet Polak has stated that he will use his new platform “to continue to advocate for Israel.”

The website of TWC Associates says that it represents clients in the defense sector — a euphemism for the weapons industry. Elbit Systems, a provider of drones to the Israeli military, has been among its clients, according to The Sunday Times.

Most, if not all, of the West’s large arms manufacturers have business connections to Israel. So there is no excuse for Polak to hide the identities of his clients. Each time he defends Israel, it should be emphasized that he has a vested interest in supporting that state.

“Feared”

Polak has been gloating about the effectiveness of his pro-Israel work. Earlier this month, he celebrated how Conservative Friends of Israel had moved from being “a reasonably active organization to one somewhat feared” in Westminster.

His role in TWC Associates is not the sole case of an overlap between his business and political pursuits. He is also named as a director of Cedars Oak, a firm providing the administration to a cross-party alliance for Israel in the Houses of Parliament.

That group’s chairperson — Louise Ellman from the Labour Party — has been televised telling lies in the service of Israeli propaganda.

In 2011, she claimed — in the present tense — that Hamas was using children for suicide bombings. After receiving a complaint, the BBC acknowledged that she should have been challenged when she made that claim on its current affairs program Newsnight. The BBC admitted that there was no record of anyone under 18 conducting a Hamas-linked suicide bombing since 2003.

Ellman has also described Israel’s use of extrajudicial executions as “legitimate” — despite how the tactic violates due process.

Polak’s pro-Israel activities are not confined to London. In 2006, he founded European Friends of Israel, a group headquartered in Brussels that has played an important role in integrating Israel into the EU’s single market for goods and services.

A seat in the Lords (a “peerage” in Westminster parlance) is the second honor that the British establishment has bestowed on Polak in as many years. In late 2014, it was announced that he would be given the title Commandant of the British Empire by the queen of England.

It is noteworthy that Polak and his chums in Conservative Friends of Israel had been busy cheerleading for Israel during its 51-day bombardment of Gaza earlier that year. Attending a recent CFI event, Philip Hammond, the British foreign secretary, said he was “proud” to have supported the 2014 offensive.

Israel killed more than 2,200 Palestinians during that attack. Of those, 551 were children.

People of conscience everywhere were horrified by Israel’s crimes. The UK government was proud to support the criminals.

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Artemis replied on

CFI should be considered one of the most influential and dangerous groups in the UK. Their meddling and influence in everything from Britain's political system and foreign policy, to schools and the media, as well as the way Muslims are perceived is quite alarming. They wield undue power, which needs to be examined and made transparent for the general public.
Cameron, for whatever reason, is clearly under their thumb.

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tom hall replied on

Zionist influence cuts across party lines. There's also an organisation called Labour Friends of Israel, which counts among its members ex-Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Many of these figures have long been discredited, and a number are widely reviled as war criminals. On a more hopeful note, Labour Friends of Palestine enjoys the support of many MPs, including the recently elected leader Jeremy Corbyn. The list of LFP members included a number I'd have classified as lukewarm at best regarding Palestine. Their presence indicates that a growing number of political opportunists within the Labour parliamentary delegation- normally associated with Blairism- have taken note of popular revulsion towards Israel and rising support for Palestinian rights. When the likes of Chuka Umunna add their voices to the chorus- however half-heartedly- it's an admission that the movement for justice in Israel-Palestine is making great strides in Britain.

Incidentally, there's no equivalent group for Palestine among Conservative members of Parliament- which can hardly come as a surprise to anyone.

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Dave Gaskell replied on

This video on YouTube of a 2015 speech at a CFOI "We believe in Israel" get together shows the (his words) "proud to be a Zionist" Michael Gove MP and UK Justice Secretary says it all. When it comes to the influence of Israel in UK politics it is scary, really scary that they have people like this selling propaganda for them! Well worth watching - here is the link to the speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

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tom hall replied on

Shades of Sarah Palin- Gove claims that from his seat in a restaurant in Tel Aviv he could see the Jordan River.

He goes on to refer to the US- funded racist military juggernaut that is apartheid Israel as a "miracle"- about the most disingenuous use of that term you're likely to encounter. The lies come fast and thick, as he insists that Syrian refugees are accorded sanctuary and treatment in Israel, when only Islamist fighters associated with al Nusra and ISIS are welcomed in that way. Israel is the only state bordering Syria which refuses to accept civilians escaping the conflict. Still Gove ploughs ahead, ignoring the Zionist state's imprisonment and demonisation of Eritrean, Sudanese and Somali refugees. He prefers to smear the popular outcry against this ruthless ethnocentric state as bigoted in nature, pointing out that "the virus of anti-Semitism mutates" ie becomes whatever Israel claims it to be at a given moment.

The performance concludes with a rejection of the BDS movement and reiteration of the hollow claim that Israel is a democracy. At no point are Palestinians named, nor are their rights acknowledged. He refuses to mention the wars of aggression, the ethnic cleansing of the land, the siege of Gaza, the periodic "lawn-mowing" campaigns, the military occupation or the full-scale colonisation of the West Bank. Frankly, the whole ceremony resembles a Republican Party candidate's pitch for some of Sheldon Adelson's largesse. In that regard, with his close links to Rupert Murdoch, Gove is widely expected to challenge for the leadership of the Conservative Party upon Cameron's departure. I for one hope that he succeeds. Because he'll pump votes into the Labour column every time he opens his mouth.

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Artemis replied on

Someone just mailed me this on Gove, which makes one ponder why the Conservative Friends of Israel would associate with him. I guess the answer is clear:
Mr Gove wrote that abolishing the death penalty “has led to a corruption of our criminal justice system, the erosion of all our freedoms and has made the punishment of the innocent more likely”, as it had come with the Home Secretary being given the power to impose whole-life tariffs. “Hanging may seem barbarous, but the greater barbarity lies in the slow abandonment of our common law traditions. Were I ever alone in the dock I would not want to be arraigned before our flawed tribunals, knowing my freedom could be forfeit as a result of political pressures. I would prefer a fair trial, under the shadow of the noose.”

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Eric replied on

Another 'lord' could raise this as a procedural issue.
Does Palestine have any friends in that house?

David Cronin

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David Cronin is an associate editor of The Electronic Intifada. His books include Balfour’s Shadow: A Century of British Support for Zionism and Israel and Europe’s Alliance with Israel: Aiding the Occupation.