Israel’s Netanyahu meets Sunak at Downing Street amid protests; UK PM stresses on ‘democratic values’

The United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu at No. 10 Downing Street, on Friday (March 24). This comes as Netanyahu has been facing weeks of protests with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets across Israel over his proposed judicial overhaul. In fact, he could not escape demonstrators even after flying across the sea, as hundreds gathered outside 10 Downing Street prior to his meeting with Sunak.

During the meeting, Sunak stressed the importance of “upholding democratic values”, said the UK PM’s spokesperson after the talks. This comes as Israel is witnessing widespread protests over the proposed judicial overhaul by Netanyahu’s government which would supposedly be directed toward weakening the Israeli Supreme Court and giving more power to the ruling party, which typically holds a majority in the Knesset (Israeli parliament).

Prior to Netanyahu’s meeting with Sunak, he was greeted by hundreds of protesters outside No 10 Downing Street who held Israeli flags and shouted various chants including “Boosha!” which means “for shame” in Hebrew and “Netanyahu go to jail, you can't speak for Israel!”, reported Reuters.

Similar scenes were witnessed in Germany, last week, when hundreds gathered at the Brandenburg Gate to protest the proposed bills.

The readouts issued by both countries said how the leaders spoke about “strengthening the close partnership between the UK and Israel and challenges they share, including the threat posed by Iran and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However, the Israeli readout of the meeting did not mention anything about the judicial overhaul, as per Israeli media reports. The statement by the UK government said, “The prime minister stressed the importance of upholding the democratic values that underpin our relationship, including in the proposed judicial reforms in Israel.”

Furthermore, Sunak also expressed his solidarity with Israel “in the face of terrorist attacks in recent months. The UK would always stand with Israel and its ability to defend itself,” said the statement by the British government. Netanyahu also said that he invited Sunak to visit Israel in the near future, while the British readout said that the UK PM “looked forward to visiting Israel at the earliest opportunity.”

According to reports, the Israeli PM left Downing Street less than an hour after he arrived. The leaders in the meeting also discussed Iran's “destabilising activity” and that their governments “would continue to work closely together to push back against aggression and manage the risk of nuclear proliferation”, said the UK. While a statement by Netanyahu’s office about the topic said that the conversation centred around the Iranian nuclear threat and the Israeli PM thanked his British counterpart for his position on the issue but called for more pressure on Tehran.

(With inputs from agencies)

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