FORMER ULSTER Unionist leader David Trimble has suspended his membership of a pro-Israel group led by former Spanish prime minister José María Aznar until he finishes an inquiry into the storming of ships bound for Gaza by Israeli soldiers.
Lord Trimble was appointed as one of two foreign observers to a five-strong panel set up by Israel to investigate the incident in late May, which saw the deaths of nine Turkish activists.
The Friends of Israel Initiative, led by Mr Aznar, urges western nations to give a better hearing to the country. It launched its campaign in the Palace of Westminster yesterday.
Conservative MP Robert Halfont said he had “been struck as a newly elected MP that whenever Israel is talked about, there is almost an orgy of criticism from so many MPs”.
Lord Trimble’s place on the inquiry team, Mr Halfont said, had been questioned by some MPs who asked how he “could be independent when he was a Friend of Israel . . . I tabled an amendment, saying, one, Lord Trimble had won the Nobel Peace Prize; two, he knew more about terrorism than anyone else; and, three, it was perfectly possible to be a Friend of Israel and a friend of peace,” Mr Halfont told the crowded launch.
Mr Aznar said the former UUP leader had “frozen” his membership of the new body – which will be launched on Capitol Hill in Washington shortly – until the Gaza inquiry is completed.
Acknowledging that supporters of the group will be “automatically stigmatized as Zionist conspirators”, Mr Aznar said it was important “that someone stands up and says, ‘Enough is enough’.
“We are not Israelis, and most of us are non-Jews,” he said, adding that Israel was being subjected to “a soft war” that threatened to undermine the international legitimacy of the state.
The country’s enemies hoped Israel could “be isolated and turned into a pariah state . . . At that point, anything is possible. If Israel goes down, we all go down,” Mr Aznar told the meeting.