Former British Prime Minister David Cameron’s unexpected return to British politics during Israel’s war in Gaza and pro-Palestinian protests in Britain has prompted questions about the implications for UK policy towards from the Middle-East.
Cameron, now foreign minister, has previously called the Gaza Strip a “prison camp” and advocated a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but he has also been a strong supporter of Israel. On October 9, when Israel announced a “total” blockade of Gaza and struck the enclave in retaliation for a surprise attack two days earlier by the Palestinian armed group Hamas, the 57-year-old spoke out in favor of the Jewish state.
“I stand in complete solidarity with Israel at this most difficult time and fully support the Prime Minister and the British government in their unequivocal and unwavering support,” he said on X, including the blue Israeli flag and white in his message.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Israel following the vile acts of terror inflicted on them this weekend, and my heart goes out to all those who were so cruelly arrested against their will, and to their families . Their worry and sorrow are simply… pic.twitter.com/yFkRIorHjs
– David Cameron (@David_Cameron) October 9, 2023
Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in London in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza this weekend as a small number of far-right groups staged counter-protests.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Monday after she sparked anger for accusing police of being too soft on pro-Palestinian protesters and for making comments described as ” incendiaries.”
He replaced Braverman with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly before announcing Cameron as Cleverly’s surprise replacement.
Ben Whitham, professor of international relations at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), said that while Cameron should adopt “a more conciliatory tone”, he would not be sympathetic to the Palestinians in the conflict.
“Certainly, like any senior conservative politician, he will largely side with Israel and its supposed right to lead the offensive in Gaza,” he told Al Jazeera.
Whitham said Cameron’s appointment was also intended to “heal some divisions within the Conservative Party”.
“He is considered to have close ties to strategic economic partners in the Middle East,” including an ongoing personal relationship with the leadership of Saudi Arabia, Whitman said.
‘Prison camp’
During his tenure as prime minister from 2010 to 2016, Cameron criticized Israel’s “illegal” settlements in the occupied West Bank and the blockade of the Gaza Strip. “Gaza cannot and must not remain a prison camp,” he said during a visit to Turkey in 2010.
However, while Palestinians in Gaza benefited from a short-lived ceasefire that temporarily halted one of the deadliest bombings in the enclave in 2014, his party rejected calls from coalition members to to re-examine arms export licenses to Israel in the event of a resumption of fighting.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz cited the episode as one of the reasons why Cameron was the most pro-Israeli British prime minister ever, snatching the honorary title from “ardent” supporters like Gordon Brown and Tony Blair and “admirers unapologetically Zionist effort” of the caliber of Margaret Thatcher and Harold Wilson.
“In many ways he sees the Middle East very similarly to Netanyahu,” Haaretz said, referring to current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also served from 2009 to 2021. Since Last month, Netanyahu repeatedly refused a ceasefire in Gaza and vowed to wipe Hamas “from the face of the earth” in an air and ground offensive that killed more than 11,200 Palestinians.
During the 50 days of hostilities from July 8 to August 26, 2014, 2,251 Palestinians were killed. Sayeeda Warsi, a senior minister in the British Foreign Office and the first British Muslim to serve in the cabinet, resigned when the ceasefire collapsed and accused Cameron’s government of taking a “morally indefensible” approach to conflict.
Warsi said at the time that the government’s response to events in Gaza was one of the factors behind the radicalization of British Muslims, which could have consequences for years to come, citing early evidence from the ministry inside.
However, the member of the House of Lords seemed to have buried the hatchet by welcoming Cameron back on Monday. “If there was ever a time for balanced, thoughtful and compassionate leadership, it is now. Your country needs you,” Warsi said on X.
According to Whitham, the former prime minister’s personal ties to Saudi Arabia played a decisive role in his political reintegration. Cameron was among a handful of leaders, including former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and former senior adviser to US President Jared Kushner, to travel to Saudi Arabia in 2019 for the “Davos in the Desert” summit.
“We have (a pillar) in British foreign policy in the Middle East which is becoming increasingly important in the post-Brexit context, namely (…) that these foreign strategic allies outside of Europe, like Saudi Arabia, are really important,” Whitham said. .
“Maintaining good relationships with these partners comes first,” he added. “And Cameron is seen as a candidate for continuity in that regard.”
Military involvement in the Middle East
Cameron favors using Britain’s “military prowess” to defeat groups considered “terrorist” in the Middle East. In 2014, as ISIL sought to establish a “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria, he warned that the West risked ending up with an “extremist” state on the Mediterranean borders if ISIL managed to reach her goals.
His government agreed to expand airstrikes into Syria from Iraq, where it voted in favor of an invasion when the proposal was submitted to the British Parliament in March 2003.
“Probably the most controversial foreign policy decision during Cameron’s tenure as Prime Minister was the decision to resort to extrajudicial killings in Syria, which inaugurated a program of drone strikes that continues to this day,” Whitham said.
Since his resignation in 2016 after his failed attempt to keep Britain in the European Union, Cameron’s Middle East policies have been reviewed and found to have had a lasting impact on the region.
In 2011, when Britain and France intervened in Libya, Cameron’s government said the operation was aimed at protecting civilians under fire from longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi. But the Foreign Affairs Committee later analyzed the decision and concluded that it was based on faulty intelligence and had accelerated the political and economic collapse of the North African country.
The parliamentary report concluded that Cameron played a “decisive” role in the decision to intervene and that he must take responsibility for Britain’s role in the Libya crisis.
Like former US President Barack Obama, Cameron led the way in the use of lethal force in parts of the Middle East, Whitham said. “Cameron has demonstrated that he is very supportive of military intervention in the region,” he said.
“I wouldn’t want to speculate on whether he will join the chorus of pro-Israel voices and potentially portray Hamas as an extension of ISIS. It will depend on which line Sunak takes and Cameron will have to follow that line.
