Likud minister likens UK’s backing for Palestinian state post-war to Nazi appeasement

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, of the Likud party, on Friday railed at British Foreign Secretary David Cameron for saying Britain could recognize a Palestinian state after the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, comparing the UK’s top diplomat to the prime minister who led Britain’s appeasement policy toward Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler before World War II.

In a post in English on X, Chikli shared a photo of Cameron waving alongside a picture of former premier Neville Chamberlain holding up a copy of the 1938 Munich Agreement that let Germany annex parts of Czechoslovakia in an effort to avoid another major war in Europe. Chamberlain famously declared that “peace for our time” had been secured upon his return from the negotiations in Munich.

“Hello to David Cameron, who wants to bring ‘Peace in Our Time’ and grant the Nazis who committed the atrocities of October 7th a prize in the form of a Palestinian state as a token of recognition for murdering babies in their cribs, mass rape and abducting mothers with their children. ‘The march of Folly,’” wrote Chikli.

The Likud minister’s post comes a day after Cameron reiterated the UK could recognize a Palestinian state once the fighting is over but clarified it would not do so until the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group is out of the enclave.

Hamas has so far taken the position that its leaders would not leave the enclave as part of any truce deal.

Israel has vowed to destroy the terror group and dismantle its military and governing capabilities in Gaza following the October 7 massacre, in which thousands of Hamas-led terrorists went on a killing spree across southern Israel, slaughtering 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages of all ages.

Britain, the US, and other Western countries have supported the idea of an independent Palestine existing alongside Israel as a solution to the region’s most intractable conflict, but have said Palestinian independence should come as part of a negotiated settlement. There have been no substantive negotiations since 2009, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has all but rejected the idea of Palestinian statehood.

Hello to David Cameron, who wants to bring "Peace in Our Time" and grant the Nazis who committed the atrocities of October 7th a prize in the form of a Palestinian state as a token of recognition for murdering babies in their cribs, mass rape and abducting mothers with their… pic.twitter.com/ljLhQs5DbM

Advertisement

— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) February 2, 2024

Chikli has not shied away from publicly butting heads with Israel’s allies in the past.

In July, he alleged that comments made by US President Joe Biden criticizing the government and expressing concern over its judicial overhaul program had been coordinated by Israel’s Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and former prime minister Ehud Barak.

Chikli told US Ambassador Tom Nides in March to “mind your own business” after Nides said the government should slow down its push to overhaul the judiciary.

In June, he called the liberal Jewish Middle East lobbying group J Street “hostile” to Israel after it retweeted a photo of the minister from New York City’s Celebrate Israel Parade in which he appeared to be making an obscene gesture toward a group protesting the Israeli government.

He and his staff said he was signaling to the protesters to smile and did not intend to make an obscene gesture.

Days earlier, in an interview, the minister appeared to dismiss US antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt as a “nice lady who deals with antisemitism,” and a leftist.