Sir Alan Duncan suggests Conservative leadership candidate supports Israel because of family “Jewish link”
In a recent YouTube interview, Sir Alan Duncan, a former Minister and former Conservative Party MP, suggested that Robert Jenrick, a sitting Conservative MP, supports Israel due to “family connections which have a Jewish link”.
In an interview with a YouTube channel, he said of Mr Jenrick, one of the Conservative Party leadership candidates: “Now this man is an extremist. He does not believe in any kind of two state solution, although he says he does. He knows nothing about it. He takes his script entirely from the Conservative Friends of Israel and the Israelis, so he would be a disaster if he were leader of the Conservative Party.”
Sir Alan was asked why he thinks that Mr Jenrick, whose wife is Jewish, is a supporter of Israel. He replied that “it is disgusting extremism born of ignorance. But there’s also family connections which have a Jewish link. But just because someone’s Jewish doesn’t mean that they have to agree with Netanyahu.” The suggestion that a politician’s political views are adversely dictated by the ethnic heritage of their spouse is surely beyond the pale of our politics.
In a further statement, Sir Alan seems to have recognised the damage that his rhetoric might cause him, claiming: “My interview specifically excluded family links as mattering, stating that being Jewish doesn’t mean you necessarily agree with Netanyahu. It’s [Jenrick’s] views as a politician which matter.”
In the same interview, he was asked: “Something you said in the beginning of this conversation, and something that you wrote in your diaries: ‘The Conservative Friends of Israel and Israelis think that they control the Foreign Office, and probably they do.’ What did you mean by that?” He replied: “I think the influence of donor money really goes straight into No.10 Downing Street, and then they tell the Foreign Office what to do.”
He also invoked the Livingstone Formulation, claiming that accusations of antisemitism are levelled to silence criticism of Israel.
Sir Alan was already investigated earlier this year by the Party, following accusations of using antisemitic tropes when he suggested on-air that members of the House of Lords were working at the behest of the Jewish state. Shockingly, the Party cleared him of the accusations.
We will be writing to the Conservative Party regarding Sir Alan’s appalling conduct.
Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.
