William Hague in fine form

I'm just back from Conservative Friends of Israel's annual business lunch.  Tomorrow morning ConservativeHome will be publishing an exclusive video of the after lunch discussion between William Hague, George Osborne and Daniel Finkelstein.

But here's one of the lighter moments from a generally serious discussion...

William Hague said that he'd recently met Tony Blair to discuss the latter's role in the Middle East Peace Process.  'How's it going?', asked Mr Blair.  A lot better since you "cleared off" responded Our William.  WH then paused before saying: Tony Blair didn't dissent!

Comments

[Sally Roberts]

Having spent today in Henley delivering in deepest countryside (and being chased by a dog at one point!) I shall look forward to reading a report of the Lunch and seeing the video tomorrow for some light relief!!

[wendy mann]

google:-

"The Israel Lobby
John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt "

for a fascinating read.

[anthony scholefield]

Yes these Conservative Friends of Israel BanGladesh Burkina Faso and papua New Guinea and all th rest of them are a bad influence-it is Conservative Friends of Britain I want to see but dont.

[Sally Roberts]

Yes, Wendy Mann - I have had a look and it seems to make two points:-

1. There is a large number of Jews living in the United States of America and;

2. The so-called Jewish Lobby is very effective at making its case.

Your point is?

[wendy mann]

"Sally Roberts

I have had a look and it seems to make two points:-

1. There is a large number of Jews living in the United States of America and;"

there are 7 million jewish people, the same number of muslims in fact but this is not about jewish people or the numbers in which they live in america. (usa population is around 250 million i believe). i dont think you understood at all.

"2. The so-called Jewish Lobby is very effective at making its case."

i wouldnt claim that it was in fact the jewish voice that was in fact the 'israeli lobby'.

"Your point is?"

the degree to which powerful lobby groups serving minority views provide perceptions that deny the reality of any situation is dangerous and may lead to subjective judgements being made by government and individuals without the holistic qualitative evidence being made available.

hence we have from whitehouse perceptions about the palestinian condition, and the conditions of muslims which does not meet reality on the ground. for example, israel has 400 nukes, kills on average 3 palestinians a day (thus far 5000 palestinians have been killed, 1000 being children since 2001 - approximately 1500 israelis have died), israel has full control of gazas land and sea borders and air space. controls the distribution of humanitarian aid, fuel , water and electricity. however we are to believe according to the lobby that israel is the 'victim'.

rocket attacks from gaza into israel has resulted in around 10 deaths over 8 years. whilst israel detains 10000 palestinians including children women and elderly men without charge.

as the authors point out the direction of american policy (and as a result uk policy) as a result of powerful lobby groups has been in the long term detrimental not only to america itself but to the whole of the mid east.

[thomas]

That's a good point Wendy: Israel is militarily superior, therefore has won and will win in any military fight with the Palestinians and their neighbours.

Presumably you think that the US should shift its military support to the Palestinians? Then them Joos could become the victims for a while again - say, have we heard this one before? - and your support would then shift back round to Israel then, as the new underdogs, wouldn't it?

It wouldn't? oh. Why's that then?

By the way, that direction of American policy (and you seems to think that determines the direction of our policy - those pesky conspiracies just keep multiplying) which you think has been detrimental - what exactly is it then? What exactly is it that you think should be, say, 'erased from the page of history'?

As an addendum, may I note that many learned men, like my mate wot was from Iran and 90% of internet users have all informed me that that Ahmedinijad quote was wrongly translated. 'Israel should be wiped from the face of the earth' should have read 'the Zionist regime should be wiped from the pages of history. So that's ok then.

isn't israel defined as a zionist state, a zionist being one who wishes jews to have a state, and therefore isn't wiping the zionist regime ...

[Victor, NW Kent]

Wendy Mann

It is probably too obvious to state but if Isalamic militants cease firing missiles at Israel then it is quite sure that Israel will stop firing at militants.

It is also perfectly obvious that none of the attacks on Israel have enhanced by one hair's breadth the lot of any Palestinian.

By the way, two years ago you said that Israel had 200 atomic weapons, now it is 400. Do you have even one lttle piece of independent corroboration of your claims?

[Alexander King]

Wendy Mann is off her rocker. The Israelis need a few more friends in Britain - the kneejerk anti-Israeli bias in the media is quite appalling.

[Sally Roberts]

Alexander - I had a hunch Ms Mann was a little strange, to put it politely, so I thought I'd "flush" her out into the open - it worked a treat!

Wendy my dear, you are barking. I am not going to dignify your points with any further response.

[bogroll]

wilhelm hague est funny