Kemi Badenoch: What is the New Conservative Party leader’s Middle East policy?

Four months after being dismissed by English voters, Conservative Party They elected a new leader.

Kemi Badenoch has emerged as a key player on the far right of the party and an unapologetic partisan of the culture wars.

Over the years, he styled himself as a fighter against the influence of the “awakening”, both in British society and (in his view) in his own party, while also embracing hard-liners. Thatcherite economy.

The first Black woman to lead a major political party in the UK, who took over from her predecessor Rishi Sunak on Saturday, has vowed to assume power Labor Party and “resetting” his party’s politics in preparation.

The picture is less clear when it comes to his approach to foreign policy.

His views on the Middle East largely consist of the strident pro-Israel stance that has become almost ubiquitous among right-wing politicians.

Middle East Eye takes a look at Kemi Badenoch’s track record on the Middle East and what we can expect in the future.

‘I congratulate’ Netanyahu

Like many on his side of politics, Badenoch is staunchly pro-Israel. garish Regarding his rival Robert Jenrick during the leadership elections, he repeatedly expressed his support for the country in wars. Lebanon, Iranian and occupied Palestinian territories.

“I congratulate Prime Minister Netanyahu” said Sky News following the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in September.

Iran announced that the body of the general killed along with Nasrallah in Lebanon was found

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He said the country had “shown moral clarity in dealing with its enemies and the enemies of the West” and claimed that Nasrallah’s death would lead to “more peace in the Middle East”.

Before being elected as leader, he sent a letter to the Conservative Friends of Israel group saying that if elected he would “continue to strengthen our ties with Israel and root out the tragic resurgence of antisemitism in the UK”.

He also warned that Labor was on the verge of “reversing” the strong ties established between Britain and Israel.

He has been equally harsh on pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London and the UK, which have been held at weekends since the war in Gaza began in October 2023.

“Our streets were soon filled with joyful hordes of people who were not appalled by acts of terrorism or demanding that the perpetrators be brought to justice, but were instead protesting against Jews under the guise of attacking Israel.” wrote As well as denouncing Black Lives Matter and declaring “identity politics doesn’t work” in the Daily Mail.

Post-Brexit trade deals

As secretary of state at the Department for Business and Trade, Badenoch is tasked with trying to boost trade in post-Brexit Britain.

An ardent supporter of the UK leaving the European Union, he was keen to talk about the benefits of Brexit and the new opportunities it supposedly created in international trade.

Last month, during He said during the leadership debate that Britain was “too afraid to take advantage of the opportunities Brexit presents”.

He flew to Istanbul in January to discuss the “improvement” of the existing trade agreement between Britain and Türkiye, which continues after Britain’s exit from the European Customs Union.

“Türkiye, with its large economy and strategic location, offers great opportunities for UK businesses,” he said at the time.

“And I’m excited to begin discussions to ensure our new trade relationship with Türkiye unlocks these opportunities.”

However, since his party has since left office, he never had the opportunity to follow these discussions.

It has also begun negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on a new free trade agreement with the six-country bloc. explaining he sees this as a “tremendous opportunity for UK firms”.

It is also separately signed Agreement reached in 2023 Saudi Arabia It’s about cultivating critical minerals.

“The agreement I signed with Saudi Arabia today will strengthen our partnership on supply chain flexibility and industrial cooperation, which is great news for both our economies,” he said at the time.

Immigration

Another area where Badenoch has taken a tough stance is on immigration; he seems to be partly continuing in the tradition of his namesake, the former Conservative MP. Enoch Powell.

He criticized civil servants, another popular target of the Conservative Party, saying most of those working at the Home Office wanted to “deal with” refugees and were “vibrational” about enforcing the UK’s borders.

“They’re not bad people, but they didn’t come here to do this,” he said. supporters In September.

“Look at a lot of the officials I met from the Home Office, for example, they were coming from refugee aid organisations, they wanted to look after refugees and asylum seekers.”

starting with that maiden speech When he entered parliament in 2017, he said he was also keen to disrupt attitudes towards race in the UK. demonize it harms aspiring members of ethnic minorities through a “victimization” mentality of white people.

He claimed that the abuse of the Equality Act had led to divisions within communities and led to different “groups” of society being treated differently.

Room bent over The “two-tier policing” conspiracy theory, popular on the far right, which claims that police are more tolerant of protests by left-wingers and ethnic minorities, has been criticized in part for suggesting a lack of “integration”. spark Far-right riots in August.

In an interview in September, he blamed “new immigrants” for fueling anti-Israel attitudes in the UK, adding that he did not believe all cultures were “equally valid.”

Laura Kuenssberg, “Who do you mean by new immigrants who hate Israel?”

Kemi Badenoch said, “You want me to say Muslims, but they are not all Muslims. I will not do this, I will not play this game. I should be able to say I did. without an observation… pic.twitter.com/n0rtBZyAtC

— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) September 29, 2024

In an article in the Telegraph, he warned that immigrants “do not automatically abandon their ancestral ethnic animosities at the border” because “their feet may be in the UK, but their heads and hearts are still in their country of origin”.

When pushed Things got heated over which cultures the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg was talking about.

“Who do you mean by new immigrants who hate Israel?” asked Kuenssberg.

“You want me to say Muslims, but they’re not all Muslims… I’m not going to do that, I’m not going to play that game… I have to say I’m making an observation. Without saying I’m attacking a particular group,” Badenoch said.

When he went further, he continued to object, saying Kuenssberg was trying to twist his words. allegations making mistakes on a regular basis.

“I told you. Things people wrote. People I met. People I’m tearing down the postersWe saw who did this, we read the cases,” Badenoch said.

“I’ve answered the question many times… but I know what you’re trying to get me to say.”