Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond visited Israel on my fifth day in office. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in London for talks with Prime Minister David Cameron in my second month. So it’s been a busy period for high-level political contacts: Exactly what every new ambassador wants.

I see examples every day of the depth and breadth of the relationship between the UK and Israel. Trade between our countries is at record levels. Two-way trade in goods reached $5.8 billion in 2014, up 8 percent on 2013. El Al’s decision to buy Rolls-Royce engines for its new Dreamliner fleet will lead to the UK’s largest ever export to Israel. More companies listed on the London Stock Exchange last year are from Israel than any other country bar the UK itself.

Israeli tech is driving innovation in the UK economy. Scientists from British and Israeli universities are working together under the BIRAX program on groundbreaking regenerative medicines to help those suffering from heart disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. Our security experts cooperate against the shared threats of extremism and terrorism.

This cooperation is of huge benefit to both our countries. But it rarely hits the headlines – at least not in the same way that calls for boycotts of Israel do.

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