Israel lobby completes its takeover of Conservative Party

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Priti Patel (above right) as Home Secretary, welcoming her Israeli counterpart, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, to the Home Office in 2022

New Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch wasted no time in confirming the Israel First orientation of her party.

While some observers might have seen yesterday’s result as a setback for Anglo-Zionism, given that Badenoch’s defeated rival Robert Jenrick is married to a Jewess and has a long history of close association with the Israel lobby, today’s news made clear that it will be business as usual.

In fact from a Zionist standpoint, much better than business as usual.

Priti Patel, who was sacked from Theresa May’s government in 2017 for breaking the ministerial code in her eagerness to serve the Lobby, has been reappointed to a front bench role. And not just in any job – but as Shadow Foreign Secretary, where she can best help her good friend Benjamin Netanyahu.

In 2017 Ms Patel visited Israel as Minister for International Development. She was accompanied by a leading Anglo-Jewish lobbyist (Lord Polak) and held a series of meetings with prominent Israelis, making promises that went against official UK government policy, without the knowledge of either the Prime Minister or the Foreign Office.

Her own ministerial colleague Sir Alan Duncan later described Patel’s behaviour as “deceitful, morally corrupt and improper. She has engaged offline with a foreign government over issues of policy. It is contemptible. She is quite despicable.”

Priti Patel with the Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, and officials of Conservative Friends of Israel, including Lord Polak and Lord Pickles

Yet because this morally corrupt, improper and despicable behaviour was in the service of Israel, all has been forgiven.

In 2019 Ms Patel returned to government as Home Secretary in Boris Johnson’s government. Despite holding that job for more than three years, she consistently failed to tackle the immigration crisis, and stepped down in 2022, expecting that new Prime Minister Liz Truss would sack her, and remained on the backbenches during the Sunak government.

Almost exactly seven years after her sacking, Ms Patel has not only been restored to the front bench, but promoted to shadow one of the great offices of state.

The only good news is that her party is likely to remain out of office for many years to come.