Israel’s UK envoy flees LSE after pro-Palestine protest

Pro-Palestine activists have forced the Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom Tzipi Hotovely to evacuate the London School of Economics. 

Many videos posted on social media showed the moment when she was forced to rush out from the LSE premises following a pro-Palestine protest over her participation in an event organised by the university's debating society on Tuesday evening.

Surrounded by security guards, Hotovely was seen fleeing the campus in a car amid "shame on you" chants by protesters holding Palestinian flags. 

There has been a noticeable increase in pro-Palestine protests in the UK in recent years despite Israeli lobbying efforts to enhance Israel's image. 

Most Israeli ambassadors to the UK and many pro-Israel speakers have been faced with protests outside their events.

Last September, Labour Party and Liberal Democrats Party adopted positions supporting Palestinian rights and condemning Israeli crimes against Palestinians. 

On Wednesday, Hotovely tweeted, "I’m thankful for all the support I have received from the British government, many friends and partners."

"I had an excellent event at #LSE and I will not be intimidated. I will continue to share the Israeli story and hold open dialogue with all parts of British society," she added.

She shared the tweet along with an image of her speaking in a university hall but apparently, bodyguards can be seen on both sides of the hall during the session.

'A racist'

Hotovely is a hardline supporter of Israel’s illegal settlements and has described herself as “a religious right-winger". 

She has opposed interfaith marriages in Israel and is a staunch opponent of a Palestinian state.

The LSE Student Union's Palestine Society said that Hotovely's appearance violated the university's external speakers policy because she supports settlements and has called the Palestinian-Israeli conflict a religious one, among other reasons. 

The society also described her as "a racist".

In December 2020, Hotovely appeared at an online event hosted by the Board of Deputies (BoD), the UK's main Jewish community organisation, where she described the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, known as the Nakba ("catastrophe") in Arabic — as a "very popular Arab lie".

In 2019, following the release of a political manifesto by the BoD, in which they expressed support for a Palestinian state, Hotovely criticised the group, saying "an organisation that supports the establishment of a Palestinian state is clearly working against Israeli interests".

In a 2015 speech on her appointment as deputy foreign minister, she rejected a two-state solution, saying, "This land is ours. All of it is ours. We did not come here to apologise for that."

READ MORE: What is Nakba? The day when Palestine's ethnic cleansing began, explained