Conservative Friends of Israel

Supporting Israel and Promoting Conservatism

Research and Briefings

In This Week’s Edition...

Supporting Israel  

• Minister for Middle East and Conservative MPs visit Israel for Australia-Israel-UK Leadership Dialogue  
• Minister for Middle East praises strong UK-Israel bilateral relationship
• UK-Israeli Prime Ministers discuss mutual challenges in 2012

Peaceful Co-existence

• Iran begins high-level uranium enrichment at underground facility
• Israeli and Palestinian envoys agree to third round of exploratory talks
• Turkey seizes alleged Iranian arms shipment to Syria
• Apple acquires Israeli company behind key iPhone component

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Supporting Israel

Minister for Middle East and Conservative MPs visit Israel for Australia-Israel-UK Leadership Dialogue

• Minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt MP, made his third visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories this week to coincide with the annual Australia-Israel-UK Leadership Dialogue conference.
• CFI joined the Leadership Dialogue with an additional delegation of Conservative MPs, including CFI’s Parliamentary Chairman, Rt Hon James Arbuthnot MP, Guto Bebb MP, Jack Lopresti MP, and Andrew Percy MP.
• The trip proved a great success with high-profile meetings with Israeli and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Salam Fayyad, as well as former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Quartet Representative Tony Blair.
• In addition to meetings with key officials, the itinerary included visits to Yad Vashem, the Knesset, Ramallah and a tour of Jerusalem.
• The Minister for the Middle East had an additional itinerary of meetings and visits, including meetings with Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and Deputy Prime Minister Benny Begin.
• During his meeting with Mr Ayalon, the ministers discussed renewed contacts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority under the framework of the Quartet statement of 23 September 2011.
• The ministers also discussed key elements of the bilateral relationship, including rapidly increasing trade figures, the shared goal of building a UK/Israel partnership in high tech, and ambitious plans to strengthen UK-Israel scientific collaboration.
• Both ministers welcomed the long-standing friendship between the UK and Israel ahead of Mr Ayalon’s visit to London next week.

Mr Burt: I am delighted to be visiting Israel for the third time in a year, as we work to strengthen the long-standing friendship between the UK and Israel. Deputy Minister Ayalon and I had productive meeting today that emphasised our close partnership. I expressed Britain’s support for the talks currently underway in Amman. I hope that both sides will seize this opportunity to move forward towards peace.
Alistair Burt MP, Minister for the Middle East, FCO statement, 10 January 2012
 
Mr Ayalon: The discussions held today with Minister Burt are another example of the strong relationship between our nations, and the shared concerns we have over developments in the region, especially concerning the unacceptable steps taken by the Iranian authorities towards the development of nuclear weapons which are a threat to regional and global stability. The ties between the UK and Israel on a range of issues are increasing and I look forward to continuing our discussion when I will meet again with Minister Burt in London next week.
Danny Ayalon, Deputy Foreign Minister, FCO statement, 10 January 2012

• The visit also took Mr Burt to the Negev in southern Israel, where he met with the parents of Daniel Viflic, the Israeli-British teenager who died following a missile attack on a school bus in southern Israel in April.
• In the West Bank, the Minister visited Bethlehem and Ramallah and met with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat.



Minister for Middle East praises strong UK-Israel bilateral relationship

• As part of his visit to Israel and the West Bank earlier this week, Mr Burt addressed students at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan.
• Mr Burt used his keynote speech to praise the strong bilateral relationship between the UK and Israel, heralding last year as “a key year”.
• Having described Israel as an “anchor of regional stability”, Mr Burt proceeded to state that the “world needs Israel’s values, of tolerance and justice”.
• Asserting the strong ties that bind the UK with Israel, Mr Burt stressed to the audience that, “your values are our values, your strength is our strength, your well-being is our well-being”.

Mr Burt: Israel’s strength is a regional bulwark for good opposing the threats to itself and its neighbours. Iran does not just threaten Israel. It threatens those who would be Israel’s allies in the Gulf, and in the Arab world who need Israel as part of a common cause against a regime dangerously loose. So we need to be clear – Israel’s strength is not a regional threat, but an anchor of regional stability.
And the world needs Israel’s values, of tolerance and justice, those values clear and strong and rejecting all challenges to them, and those who would corrode them. Because it is more than anything the strength of these values that is the best guarantee of Israel’s place in the world. And any corrosion of these values that would weaken Israel’s place in the world. Do not doubt that the flame and the values of Israel’s foundation lit up hearts and minds many thousands of miles away. It is essential that this land, these gifts, these contributions are used to full effect in the world.
So be in no doubt, as we enter the turbulent waters of 2012 that your values are our values, your strength is our strength, your well-being is our well-being.
Alistair Burt MP, Minister for the Middle East, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, 10 January 2012
 
Mr Burt: The UK believes that Israel has a vital role to play in its region and its world, and that Israel’s well-being matters deeply to us.
Alistair Burt MP, Minister for the Middle East, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, 10 January 2012

• To highlight the British government’s commitment to the partnership, Mr Burt described the "stream of Ministerial colleagues leading delegations and demonstrating our support for this partnership” throughout 2011, and vowed that “in 2012 there will be many more”.
• Much of the speech welcomed strengthening economic and scientific cooperation between the UK and Israel in recent years and included praise for Israel’s high-tech economic achievements.
• Trade and business between Israel and the UK has increased significantly in recent years, with an estimated 25% increase in trade and services between 2010 and 2011, according to Mr Burt.

Mr Burt: 2011 was also a key year for trade and business between our two countries. When the final figures for trade and services for the year come in, we expect them to show a 25% increase on last year, and should reach 7 billion US dollars. We’re breaking records every year, and I am sure that this will continue.
Alistair Burt MP, Minister for the Middle East, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, 10 January 2012

• Describing Israel’s Research and Development as “world-beating”, the Minister attributed Israeli inventions with “helping to drive the global economy”.

Mr Burt: We need Israel’s acumen and intelligence; its ability to work at the highest intellectual and technological level to help the world solve its problems, from the economy to climate and environmental change – and its readiness to use its gifts in higher education and intellectual property to help the world progress. Everyone knows that Israeli R&D is world-beating. Israeli inventions are helping to drive the global economy.
Alistair Burt MP, Minister for the Middle East, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, 10 January 2012

• Mr Burt spoke at length about the shared benefits of the closer UK-Israel high-tech relationship.

Mr Burt: We believe it is a partnership that could help both sides – the amazing quality of Israeli R&D can help British growth; the strengths of the British economy can help Israeli innovation go global, building using our skills in business development, capital, global reach, scientific prowess, and market access.
Alistair Burt MP, Minister for the Middle East, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, 10 January 2012

• A new Tech Hub at the British Embassy in Israel and BIRAX are central to this strengthening scientific relationship.

Mr Burt: Both governments are committed to this partnership, and we have established in the British Embassy a new Tech Hub, a dedicated team tasked with creating lasting partnerships between UK and Israel in areas such as clean-tech, biomed and digital technologies.
Under the BIRAX Regenerative Medicine Initiative, £10 million will be awarded over the next five years to joint research projects bringing together British and Israeli scientists. The scheme gives generous support to joint high quality and ground-breaking UK-Israel research projects, which will have a significant impact on global health, enhance joint research between British and Israeli academic institutions and invest in early stage collaboration between researchers.
Alistair Burt MP, Minister for the Middle East, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, 10 January 2012

• Mr Burt, dismissing the notion that UK universities were hostile to Israel, spoke of the “ground-breaking projects and collaborations between UK and Israeli researchers, and real warmth and friendship between our universities”.
• To illustrate this, Mr Burt described a recent UK-Israel conference on regenerative medicine during which 60 British academics and researchers from over 20 universities visited Israel.
• The Minister welcomed the recent round of talks between Israeli and Palestinian envoys in Jordan, noting that both sides need to “look ahead and identify how we can best bring about the formation of a stable and viable Palestinian state, alongside a safe and secure Israel with internationally-recognised borders”.
• Explaining the UK’s interest in securing a lasting Middle East peace agreement, the Minister asserted that the UK “care about Israel and Israel’s future too much not to take an interest”.
• Urging the importance of a return to direct peace talks, Mr Burt acknowledged Israeli concerns over the possible emergence of new hard-line regimes in neighbouring countries, “all of whom have several times been at war with Israel, and tried to destroy Israel even from its earliest days”.
• Turning to the challenges of 2012, Mr Burt emphasised the importance of the UK standing together with Israel to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.
• The Minister for the Middle East cited “major agreement” and “close cooperation” between the countries on the issue of Iran, and vowed to “step up efforts” in 2012 to stopping Iranian efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.

Mr Burt: The UK is a leading force in the international campaign to stop the Iranian regime acquiring a nuclear weapon – and arresting a progress which is clearly not intended for purely peaceful purposes.   We work closely with Israel on this issue, and it is an extremely important aspect of our bilateral relationship.
We share Israel’s determination to prevent Iranian proliferation. Israel is not facing the threat of a nuclear Iran alone, and so its efforts must support those of the international community. We will work together to ensure that 2012 is not the year in which Iran realises its nuclear ambitions.
Alistair Burt MP, Minister for the Middle East, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, 10 January 2012

• Mr Burt added that sanctions were “having an impact”, and said that the UK’s recent implementation of sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran would be followed by EU sanctions against Iranian oil.



UK-Israeli Prime Ministers discuss mutual challenges in 2012

• Prime Minister David Cameron spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, last Friday to discuss the mutual challenges facing the UK and Israel in 2012.
• The Prime Ministers discussed the prospects for the international economy, especially the importance of achieving stability and competitiveness in the eurozone, and the growing UK-Israeli co-operation in both science and technology.
• Iran’s on-going nuclear activities was a main topic of discussion, with the two PM’s agreeing on the importance of concerted international pressure on Iran to fulfil its international commitments and to address international concerns about its nuclear programme.
• Prime Minister Netanyahu also briefed Prime Minister Cameron on the direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Amman, Jordan in recent weeks.
• These talks were welcomed by the British Prime Minister, who reiterated the Government’s belief that direct negotiations remain the only way to achieve a lasting peace

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Peaceful Co-existence


Iran begins high-level uranium enrichment at underground facility

• Iran confirmed this week that it has begun enriching high-grade uranium at its underground Fordow nuclear plant, near the holy city of Qom, after moving work from its previous main enrichment plant at Natanz.
• In defiance of UN Security Council resolutions demanding Iran ceases enriching uranium, Iranian officials revealed that they are enriching to a fissile purity of 20 per-cent, which far exceeds the levels required for civilian medical research.
• Uranium normally enriched to 3.5 per-cent can be used to fuel nuclear reactors, Iran's stated aim.
• The Fordow plant, however, takes enriched uranium from Natanz and uses rows of centrifuges in underground halls to further concentrate the material to a purity of 20 per-cent.
• The clandestine Fordow nuclear facility has been a constant source of concern for the international community ever since it was identified by Western intelligence services two years ago.
• The Iranian decision to move work from Natanz to Fordow has caused additional concern since the underground facility at Fordow offers better protection from aerial attacks and observation.
• Diplomatic sources have also indicated that Iran has started refining uranium at the same Fordow plant.
• The Iranian government announced last July that it was installing a new generation of centrifuges in its nuclear facilities.
• Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the increased levels of enrichment as a “provocative act”.
• Expressing “extreme disappointment” at Iran’s decision to begin enrichment at its underground nuclear facility near Qom, Mr Hague asserted that the facilities “size, location, and clandestine nature raise serious questions about its ultimate purpose”.
• The Foreign Secretary insisted that Iran could “provide no credible rationale for producing so much 20% enriched uranium” and does “not stand up to serious scrutiny”.
• Nuclear energy plants need fuel enriched to 3.5 per-cent, but Iran continues to insist that 20 per-cent enriched uranium is needed for its Tehran Research Reactor to make isotopes to treat cancers.
• Challenging this, Mr Hague stated that Iran already has “sufficient enriched uranium to power the reactor for more than five years and has not even installed the equipment necessary to manufacture fuel elements”.
 


Israeli and Palestinian envoys agree to third round of exploratory talks

• Israeli and Palestinian envoys have reportedly agreed to a third round of direct meetings this weekend, following Monday’s second meeting under the auspices of Jordanian King Abdullah II.
• The Jordanian King will also travel to the U.S. next week to discuss developments in the peace talks with resident Barack Obama.
• Exploratory discussions began on January 3rd following an impasse lasting over a year, and are being supported by the Quartet in an effort to open the door to a resumption of full negotiations.
• The Quartet wants the two sides to state their positions on the borders and security arrangements of a future "two-state solution" by January 26.
• Hamas, the militant Islamist faction controlling the Gaza Strip, spoke out again this week against peace talks.
• Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahar says Hamas are not prepared to relinquish its armed confrontation against Israel under any circumstances.
• In an interview with Reuters, Zahar denied that Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, based in Damascus, had endorsed President Mahmoud Abbas's concept of non-violent "popular resistance" against Israel.
• Zahar asserted: “Popular resistance includes both Fatah agenda, which speaks of protests only, and the Hamas position which advocates gathering all means of military armament for the sake of self-defence”.

Turkey seizes alleged Iranian arms shipment to Syria

• Four Iranian trucks were impounded by Turkish officials this week on suspicion of carrying ‘military materials’ while crossing between the countries.
• The vehicles impounded were understood to be en-route to Syria, where President Assad continues to brutally suppress anti-Government protests.
• Turkish officials received information about the cargo leading to an operation to intercept.
• Weapons removed from the vehicles have been transported to Ankara for examination, but was unable to say whether or not they had yet been identified as having a military use.
• Iran has been repeatedly identified as providing the Syrian regime with information and technical and financial support in an effort to crush protests.
• Turkey imposed economic sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad's government in November, having earlier implemented an arms embargo in protest at Assad's violent crackdown.
• In a separate incident, a ship carrying weapons bound for the Syrian port of Latakia was intercepted in Cyprus, according to a Lebanese radio report.

Apple acquires Israeli company behind key iPhone component

• Apple Inc. has made its first acquisition in Israel, after it reportedly purchased Anobit Technologies Ltd for about $390 million
• Anobit Technologies is the Israeli maker of flash-memory drives, which are key components of Apple’s top-selling products.
• Anobit’s drives are high-performance controllers used to optimise the memory capabilities inside products such as the iPhone and iPad.
• Apple’s investment means it will join other major technology powerhouses already operating within Israel, including Intel, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft.
• In September 2011, a U.K. maker of chips for Nokia mobile phones, completed the acquisition of the Israeli developer Zoran Corp.
• The deal is further evidence of Israel’s burgeoning high-tech sector, with Israel home to the largest number of start-ups per capita in the world.
• Israel has around 60 companies traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market, the most of any nation outside North America after China.