BORIS JOHNSON: It would be foolish for Britain to ban arms sales to Israel. The sooner we denounce the idea, the better

If you want an example of Western civilization's desire for death, I give you the current proposal from members of the British establishment that this country should ban arms sales to Israel.

If you want proof of government madness, it appears that Foreign Office lawyers are actively looking into this idea which, as far as I know, has not yet been rejected by the Foreign Secretary himself. He seems to have gone into some sort of purdah over this.

Even more alarming, we are told that an Israeli weapons ban is the subject of an active feud within the Cabinet, with only a handful of ministers positively defending Israel.

The contagion spread quite widely and very quickly. The proposed embargo is now supported by MPs from all sides, by the former head of MI6, by some former Supreme Court judges and by around 600 members of the legal profession, all calling for us to turn our backs on the only democracy. in the Middle-East.

We are asked to avoid Israelis, to organize a total moral rejection of Israel when that country recently suffered the largest and most horrific massacre of Jews since World War II; and when 130 hostages, including, for heaven's sake, a baby, are held in dungeons in Gaza by their jihadist captors; and when the release of these hostages, we cannot repeat this enough, would mean the immediate withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces and the end of the conflict.

How can we do things so wrong and so upside down? What happened to us?

Let's be clear about what it would mean to ban arms sales now, when Israel faces a greater existential threat than ever.

If we ourselves ban the sale of weapons, it surely follows that we believe that no self-respecting country should arm Israelis.

And if we want everyone, including the United States, to end its military support, don't doubt what that means. There is only one logical conclusion.

We wish for the military defeat of Israel and the victory of Hamas. Remember, to win this conflict, Hamas only has to survive. All they need in the end is to hang on, rebuild and move on.

This is a victory for Hamas; and this is what these jurists seem to be asking. So let's just remember what this war is about and why Israel was forced to act.

Israel has no choice but to defend itself because Hamas' charter and goal is to destroy Israel, and even liquidate the entire Jewish people. The Hamas massacre of October 7 was clearly intended to further this goal: the moral and political destruction of Israel.

There was a reason they meticulously planned and then committed these unspeakable murders and rapes. They wanted to show Israelis, and anyone considering coming to Israel, that this was a place where ordinary, innocent families could be plunged into violent catastrophe.

They wanted to arouse a global sense of revulsion towards events in Israel and, of course, they wanted to provoke a violent response from Israelis, because they knew that retaliation would inevitably lose sympathy for Israel throughout the world.

This is why they took the hostages: to give Israel no choice but to fight. This is why they refuse to return the hostages. This is why they prepared so carefully for war, cynically designing their defenses to cause the greatest loss of Palestinian life and the greatest possible loss of Western support for Israel.

That's why they built 600 kilometers of tunnels, and that's why they made sure to hide under mosques, hospitals, schools and other civilian targets.

They are actively using the death and suffering of their own citizens, maximizing their pain and sorrow in order to rally international opinion against Israel and we are falling into the trap.

I do not deny for a minute the immense suffering of the people of Gaza. I just ask you to think about who is really responsible for this.

It was shocking to witness the recent killing of three British and Western aid workers by the Israelis. There must be an investigation.

Israelis must explain what happened and bring to justice those responsible for what was surely a horrible mistake. But for all our grief and anger at what is happening on the ground in Gaza, we must not forget the essential moral difference between Hamas and Israel.

It is still true, in all the chaos and carnage of war, that Israel sends warnings of its attacks by phone, text message or leaflet. Israel is trying to use precision munitions. Israel tries to ensure a certain proportionality between military objectives and the risk of human suffering. Israel is trying to eliminate Hamas terrorists, while doing its best to spare the surrounding population.

Israel is trying to minimize losses. Hamas tries to maximize them, including on its own side. Hamas knows that it is this horrific spectacle of the suffering of Palestinian women and children that breaks our hearts in the West and weakens our resolve.

Right now they see us melting and faltering, and in our voices in London and Washington they can hear our growing irresolution.

They listen to this sudden talk about boycotting Israel, and they think they can achieve their goal: deprive Israel of Western support and prevent the Israelis from accomplishing their mission.

If the West continues to collapse, and especially if Britain and the United States collapse, then the Israelis will not be able to enter Rafah. They will be prevented from achieving their goal: ending Hamas as a military force in Gaza.

The heads of Hydras will be able to grow back. Hamas will be able to do another on October 7, then another. Above all, the rest of the world, where there is already so much doubt about the will of the West, will see that, regarding this issue, we did not have the courage, the fiber or the strategic patience to defend a democracy ; and that we were ready to let the jihadists win.

Is this really what you want, all of you lawyers who say that Israel's actions now require an arms embargo? Do you want to give victory to a gang of murderers and rapists?

You are talking about humanitarian law. Where was the humanity of Hamas on October 7? Show me how humanitarian law works in Hamas's Gaza Strip, a place ruled by fear and summary executions.

Humanitarian law? They make fun of us. If we banned weapons from Israel now, it would obviously be absurdly hypocritical. I don't remember much qualms about the loss of civilian life during NATO strikes in Libya.

We have very wisely supported our vast arms deals with Saudi Arabia throughout the war in Yemen.

But it's not the hypocrisy that bothers me. This is the implication: that the good, intelligent, caring people of this country are in fact prepared to strip Israel of its means of defending its citizens against Hamas.

It's crazy. This is shameful and the sooner the government formally denounces this idea, the better.