opinions & letters
Can King Charles Change
Britain’s Attitude Toward Israel?
BY ANDREW TUCKER
W atching the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II
this week, one could not fail to be deeply
moved, but her passing and the ascension of her
successor King Charles III raise the question of
whether there might now be a positive change in
Britain’s complicated and often hostile relationship
with Israel.

There is some reason for hope. In the past,
Charles has shown great sympathy for the Jewish
people and for the state of Israel. Moreover, one
of the queen’s last official acts was to invite Liz
Truss to become prime minister. Truss has pub-
licly stated that she wants to change British policy
towards Israel in a more supportive direction.

She is even prepared to contemplate moving
the British embassy to Jerusalem. Whether she
Peace and Justice Network publicly condemns
the “occupation,” supports the boycott, divest-
ment and sanctions movement and endorses
the establishment of an Arab-Muslim state in
Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

The Anglican Church’s attitude was reflected
in a controversial opinion piece published last
December by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin
Welby and Hosam Naoum, an Anglican arch-
bishop in Jerusalem. Reminding readers that the
first Christmas took place against “the backdrop
of the genocide of infants” — thus evoking toxic
libels about the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians
— the authors blame Israel for “driving out”
Christians, despite strong evidence that Christian
churches in Israel are growing and thriving.

The cause of the Anglican Church’s critical
attitude toward Israel is a deeply-rooted “replace-
ment theology” (also known as “supercession-
There is no doubt that King Charles and his
prime minister understand the deep challenges
and dilemmas facing the Jewish people and the
state of Israel.

will be able to overcome anti-Jewish sentiment
in the British Foreign Office, however, remains to
be seen.

For Charles, the most significant obstacle to
establishing a more friendly relationship with
Israel is probably his role as supreme governor of
the Church of England. It must be acknowledged
that parts of the Anglican Church have played
a very positive role in relations with Israel and
the Jewish people. For example, the Anglican
Church’s Ministry Among the Jewish People and
other Anglican evangelicals in the 19th century
helped bring about the Balfour Declaration in
1917. Today, there are prominent Anglican clergy
and lay leaders in many countries who support
Israel on theological grounds, such as Professor
Gerald McDermott and his New Christian Zionism
movement. Officially, however, the Anglican Church is highly
critical of Israel. Anglican synods and committees
regularly denounce Israel’s claim to sovereignty
over Jerusalem and condemn the Jewish state for
allegedly oppressing the Palestinians and violat-
ing international law. For example, the Anglican
ism”) according to which — although the church
does not say so in so many words — the church
has replaced the Jewish people as God’s cho-
sen people. Thus, the Anglican Church does not
accept that the literal ingathering of the Jewish
people and their restoration to the land have any
abiding biblical significance, and prefers to sup-
port the Palestinians, who are perceived as the
oppressed underdog.

We know that King Charles and his heir Prince
William support Israel’s existence and sover-
eignty. However, Charles’ secret visit to his grand-
mother’s grave on the Mount of Olives in 2016 and
Prince William’s 2018 visit to Israel revealed the
tensions involved in complying with the internal
inconsistencies of the current British position.

William was the first member of the royal family
to meet officially with an Israeli prime minister in
Israel and he spoke warmly about “the essential
vibrancy” of the Jewish state. Nevertheless, his
visits to areas beyond the 1967 lines, includ-
ing eastern Jerusalem, were not organized by
the British embassy in Tel Aviv but by Britain’s
Jerusalem consulate, which is located in the
Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in the city’s east
and is charged with maintaining relations with the
Palestinian Authority.

William’s visit thus confirmed the official British
position that demands the establishment of a
Palestinian state and regards eastern Jerusalem
and the Old City — including the Western Wall —
as “occupied Palestinian territory” that needs to
be placed under Arab-Muslim sovereignty.

Should King Charles and Prime Minister Truss
seek to depart from existing British policy regard-
ing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they will not
only have to overcome obstruction from the
British Foreign Office, but will also face opposition
from within the Anglican Church.

There is no doubt that King Charles and his
prime minister understand the deep challenges
and dilemmas facing the Jewish people and the
state of Israel, as well as the huge contribution
made by Israel to peace and security in the Middle
East and the existential dangers presented by the
current unilateral Palestinian claims to statehood.

Let’s hope that they will have the courage to
speak the truth without fear or favor. JE
Andrew Tucker is an Australian-born, Dutch-based
international lawyer, writer and speaker. He is
director of The Hague Initiative for International
Cooperation and chief editor of Israel & Christians
Today, a bimonthly newspaper published by
Christians for Israel.

letters Archbishop Sends Holiday Greeting
As you prepare to celebrate the Most Holy Days
of the year, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I
write on behalf of the people of the Archdiocese
of Philadelphia to extend prayerful best wishes.

These are days of prayer, reflection and new
beginnings. May the Eternal One abundantly
bless you with good health, wisdom and true
peace in the year ahead.

“Shanah Tovah,” a good year to all! JE
Most Reverend Nelson J. Pérez,
Archbishop of Philadelphia
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