A former commander of British forces has called on Christians to stand up for the Jews as war rages in the Middle East, adding that “Israel’s fight is our fight.”
A Catholic himself, Colonel Richard Kemp said he was aware of “a large number” of Christian clergy (including Roman Catholic priests and even the Pope) who have succumbed to the propaganda accusing Israel as the aggressors in recent conflicts. And there is simply not enough Christian support for Israel in the UK, he said.
In an interview with Christians United for Israel (CUFI) aired via zoom to hundreds of viewers, Col Kemp said the Iranian dictatorship’s ire was not only directed at Israel and the United States, but “Death to the UK” was also part of their mantra.
And the former commander of British troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland denounced the British government’s weak response to calls for help in the war against Iran. “I don’t think I’ve seen Britain behaving in such a weak way, particularly in response to our US ally,” he said.
Refusal to fully engage in the conflict, on top of their recognition of a Palestinian state, was “all to do with the government wanting to appease anti-Israel supporters in the UK. Good relations with America have been outweighed by (Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s) fear of his own supporters.”
He said Israel has been accused of committing war crimes by government ministers who “know it isn’t the case” and it simply fuels Jew-hatred.
And yet Judaism’s influence on decisions taken by Israeli officers in the conduct of their wars was greater than the effect of Christianity in the UK today. He cited the case of a pilot who aborted an attack on Gaza because there were too many civilians in the targeted area, asking himself the question: ‘How can I go home to my children knowing that I, perhaps unnecessarily, killed innocent civilians?’
Hamas, on the other hand, has been using what he described as human sacrifices, “deliberately and intentionally trying to get its own citizens killed.”
Charles Gardner is author of Israel the Chosen, available from Amazon; Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com; To the Jew First, A Nation Reborn, and King of the Jews, all available from Christian Publications International.
