BICOM

Mayor of London Boris Johnson headed to Jerusalem yesterday on the second day of his trip to Israel and the West Bank.

Visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, Mr Johnson commented, “It’s very important we do remember what happened and do understand that truth, because I’m afraid it still has lessons for humanity today… And you understand the colossal, vital and historic importance of creating, ensuring and defending a homeland for the Jewish people.”

Mr Johnson later joined teams of Arab and Jewish children to play a football game along with President Reuven Rivlin and visited a Jerusalem market.

Later that evening, he delivered the inaugural Winston Churchill Lecture at Mishkenot Sha’ananim in Jerusalem, where he spoke about the life of Churchill and his influence on the Middle East. In a well-attended speech, Johnson discussed Churchill’s role in literally drawing the borders of the states of the modern Middle East, creating Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria. Making a comparison between Israel and Churchill himself, Johnson said “If we look at the history of modern Israel there is no doubt that the comparison can be extended – and that there is something Churchillian about the country he helped to create. There is the audacity, the bravery, the willingness to take risks with feats of outrageous derring-do.”

Mr Johnson took the opportunity to gently urge Israel to do more for Palestinians and reiterated his opposition to boycotts of Israel. Today he begins his day in the Old City of Jerusalem, after which he will head to the West Bank for meetings with Palestinians.