"The incredible clutching at straws with which Ms. Leighton tries to identify loose groups of opinion within the Conservative Party, none of which - unlike the factionalism in Labour - have ever threatened the stability of the party, and Ms. Leighton's continued insistence on bringing up Mr. Eden's long-dead Ministry, only goes to demonstrate how dangerously out of touch the Labour establishment is with political reality. Labour have proven they can no longer pass their own agenda, and the fact of the matter is that they cannot be trusted to run the country."
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Speech at the Friends of Israel Society, in Jacob's home constituency of Chelsea, in London.
"The Conservative Party, both under my leadership and the preceding Gibbons' leadership, has worked tirelessly to ensure that all vestiges of antisemitism have been expelled from the political mainstream. We have ensured that those who hold those views have been forced to the political sidelines, discredited and mocked. And I will continue to tirelessly fight to ensure that those of the Jewish faith will never face demonisation or estrangement in this country.
However, that is not enough. I recognise the necessity of the Jewish race to have a state and homeland of their own, after the widespread persecution that have faced for centuries as a people in exile. That homeland is Israel, and this country, in 1947, recognised this by creating the Dominion of Israel. A second state for the Arab inhabitants of the Holy Land, Palestine, was also created, which ensured both communities would have control over their own affairs in separation, whilst externally having friendly relations between states.
The current Prime Minister during her stint as Foreign Minister, as many of the members of this society remember, had attempted to force an unwanted and unneeded settlement in the Holy Land, forcing the Israeli state into an unwanted marriage with the Palestinian one. To patronise two races of people - both the Arabs and the Israelis - by telling them that they cannot be trusted with a nation of their own and must be merged into a single Federation, speaks of an incredible naivety. Neither nation would have benefited from such an arrangement - it would have ensured that such a Federation would be plagued by sectarianism, and would have been to the detriment to every citizen of such a Federation. I voted against the proposal then, and I will fight any one-state solution in the future. If Labour is elected, I have no doubt that Leighton would once again try to undermine the integrity of Israel.
When the Israeli state attempted to assert it's sovereignty, she denigrated the people of Israel - describing a Jewish state as "absolute folly". This utter disdain which she had shown the Israeli people demonstrates her signature lack of tact at best, and a latent antisemitism at worst. It is only thanks to the substantial pressure by the international and domestic community that Israel was allowed to remain a free state, unhampered by Ms. Leighton's imposed whims. And so we now have the current situation - a once stable and peaceful land now tense, thanks to an incredibly poor policy by the previous Government which has left borders vague, grudges high, and has left communities torn apart. This will ultimately lead to conflict in the Holy Land, and it is this which is Labour's greatest shame.
What I, and the Conservative Party, want is both the Israeli nation and the Palestinian nation to each have their own separate state - not some imposed Federal Canaanite identity - equal in legitimacy and integrity, with friendly relations with their neighbours and defined borders. I want such an Israeli state to have good relations with the United Kingdom, and to repair the damage done to the esteem of Britain in Israel which had been done by Labour, by supporting Israel's continued existence as an independent nation. This two-state solution is the only way to ensure that the Holy Land has long term stability, and the ultimate safety of all Jewish and Arab peoples in the region."