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The Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, has long courted controversy for her outspoken hardliner opinions, including supporting the total annexation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem into the Israeli state.
Now, following the Hamas-led attacks on 7th October last year and subsequent violence in the region, Hotovely is coming under fire again for her divisive and inflammatory rhetoric.
In a recent Change.org petition, which has gained over 125,000 signatures, activists called on the UK government to expel the ambassador, concerned about the “potential radicalisation” of the British population due to Hotovely’s influence. The petition, launched in December 2023, came shortly after Hotovely participated in a high-profile interview with Sky’s Mark Austin.
When questioned on the future of Gaza and its 2.2 million inhabitants following the ongoing conflict, Hotovely focused on the “demilitarisation and deradicalisation” of the region, purportedly through “educating” the population, whilst rejecting calls for the UN-backed ceasefire. This was before she went on to say that there is “absolutely no” possibility of there being a two-state solution in the region after the war is concluded.
The official stance of the UK government is supporting a two-state solution in the region.
Her commentary in this interview drew widespread condemnation, with viewers taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, to vent their anger.
This petition was not the first time that the ambassador has drawn criticism for her stance in recent weeks. Just last month, staff at the UK’s Royal Society of Arts (RSA) staged a walkout in protest after they uncovered an event was being held on the premises to promote UK-Israeli trade ties, attended by Hotovely and deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden.
“It’s an affront to many staff, especially those with family or friends in Gaza, which [the Israeli] government is turning into a graveyard,” said one member of the RSA staff. “The presence of Hotovely, who has made such sickening comments in justification of the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, makes many of us feel unsafe in our place of work.”
Traction on the petition is likely to grow in coming weeks, as her comments appear to grow even more hardline. In another interview, this time with LBC’s Iain Dale, Hotovely suggested that every building in Gaza was a potential target for the IDF’s attacks, purporting that “every school, every mosque, every second house” is an access point to the Hamas ‘underground city’.
As the interviewer was apt to point out, this is an argument for destroying the entirety of Gaza.
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