Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said “I am proud of Britain’s part in creating Israel” and that the Balfour Declaration was “indispensable to the creation of a great nation”, in an article in the Telegraph newspaper on Sunday.
In the article titled, ‘My vision for Middle East peace between Israel and a new Palestinian state’, the Foreign Secretary underlined: “there is the incontestable moral goal: to provide a persecuted people with a safe and secure homeland. So I am proud of Britain’s part in creating Israel and Her Majesty’s Government will mark the Centenary of the Balfour Declaration on Thursday in that spirit”.
Foreign Secretary Johnson said that he was writing the article from the same room Lord Balfour used a century ago, and reiterated the UK’s commitment to a two-state solution. He wrote: “A century on, Britain will give whatever support we can in order to close the ring and complete the unfinished business of the Balfour Declaration”.
Praising Israel’s achievements, the Foreign Secretary wrote: “In the seven decades since its birth, Israel has prevailed over what has sometimes been the bitter hostility of neighbours to become a liberal democracy and a dynamic hi-tech economy”.
He added: “In a region where many have endured authoritarianism and misrule, Israel has always stood out as a free society”.
Foreign Secretary Johnson referred to his time in Israel as a youth working at a kibbutz, writing: “I served a stint at a kibbutz in my youth, and (though I was mainly washing up) I saw enough to understand the miracle of Israel: the bonds of hard work, self-reliance and an audacious and relentless energy that hold together a remarkable country”.
Click here to read Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s article in the Telegraph in full.
