Israeli invitation to far-right UK activist crossed a red line

A couple of weeks ago, the British far Right anti-immigration activist, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon aka Tommy Robinson, spoke at a large Tel Aviv social gathering, one ostensibly dedicated to hearing all points of view.

He had been invited to Israel by the Minister for the Diaspora, Amiḥai Chikli, who has had several public rows with the leaders of British Jewry. Many British Jews were outraged that Robinson had been invited and there was widespread anger within the community.

Robinson was a member of the white supremacist British National Party and a founder of the English Defence League in the UK. He has served five prison terms during the last 20 years on charges of assault, mortgage fraud and contempt of court.

Many British Jews recalled that their fathers and grandfathers had stopped the march of Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists through the Jewish East End of London in 1936. The story of standing up to racists at “the Battle of Cable Street” has been carried down the generations.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews, together with the Jewish Leadership Council, described Robinson as a “thug” who represented “the worst in Britain” and described Chikli as the Minister for the Diaspora “in name only”.

Chikli apparently did not inform the Foreign Ministry of his plan to invite Robinson and several organisations in Israel were clearly uneasy about being instructed to entertain him.

Dani Dayan, the Director of Yad Vashem, commented that while the institution was open to all visitors, he added: “Yad Vashem is not involved in any way whatsoever in this planned visit”.