British lawyers threaten with legal action over far-right Israeli MK visit

London (QNN)- British lawyers acting on behalf of International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) have called the Home Secretary to explain why far-right Israeli MK, Bezalel Smotrich, was let into the country lately.

The London-based Palestinian legal centre has urged Priti Patel to refuse the re-entry of Smotrich into the UK and challenged her to explain why he was from the first let into the country earlier in February.

In a letter sent to Patel’s office on Thursday, lawyers acting on behalf of ICJP said the Home Office’s ongoing failure to refuse entry to Bezalel Smotrich “amounts to an unlawful failure to follow adopted policy”.

Earlier this month, British MP Crispin Blunt, the former head of the UK parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and director of the ICJP, urged Patel on behalf of the centre to revoke Smotrich’s entry clearance because his presence was “non-conducive to the public good”.

Blunt cited new immigration rules introduced in December 2020 which “tightened” the process for assessing applications, the guidance suggesting someone could prevent entry “based on their character, conduct, or associations because they pose a threat to UK society”.

“In the event that he intends to enter, or has entered the UK, we ask you to directly prevent his entry, or revoke his entry clearance on the basis that his presence is non-conducive to the public good,” read Blunt’s letter.

But the Home Office’s response “has failed to confirm whether Mr Smotrich would be refused entry, or have any prospective entry clearance to the UK revoked on the basis of the non-conducive framework, despite him clearly satisfying many of the criteria for refusing entry,” said London-based law firm Bindmans, who is representing the ICJP.

Instead, according to Bindmans, the Home Office said, “Hateful extremism has no place in our society”, and that it was “working closely with law enforcement, local communities and our international partners to tackle groups and individuals who sow division and hatred”.

In a 10-February tweet, Smotrich said he plans to return to the UK in the future despite the condemnations and opposition to his visit.

אני מאוד מודה לכם על פרסום הביקור שלי ועל הקשרים הרבים שנוצרו לי בבריטניה בזכותו. עשרות טלפונים והזמנות של רבנים ומנהיגים שהתביישו בכם, התנצלו, הודיעו שאתם לא מייצגים אותם וביקשו לפגוש אותי. לצערי לא אספיק הפעם את כולם אז אצטרך לשוב פעם נוספת. אוהב אתכם אחים שלי. נתראה בע"ה שוב. https://t.co/wgEWGEDGnI

— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) February 10, 2022

The lawyers have given the Home Office until 2 March to respond before they say they plan to issue judicial review proceedings.

On Feb.9, Smotrich arrived in the UK on a tour of the UK and France to rally opposition to the Israeli government’s plans to reform conversion to Judaism, citing assimilation concerns.

This started with the Board of Deputies (BoD), the community’s mainstream umbrella organization, telling the far-right Israeli MK that he is not welcome in the UK, and urged British Jews to “show him the door”.

“We reject his abominable views and the hatred ideology of Bezalel Smotrich and call on all members of the British Jewish community to show him the door,” the top UK Jewish body tweeted in Hebrew in an unprecedented intervention.

“Get back on the plane Bezalel and be remembered as a disgrace forever,” it added while tagging a number of prominent Israeli media outlets and journalists in a subsequent tweet.

In response, Smotrich tweeted: “British Jews: I love you. All of you.”

The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) also issued a statement condemning the entry of Smotrich to the UK.

The Muslim Association of Britain said it is “appalled to learn” that Smotrich was allowed entry to the UK.

“Smotrich is a racist hate preacher that has openly called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and said David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, should have “finished the job” and thrown out all the “Arabs” in 1948. The party he leads promotes abhorrently racist views, advocates for Jewish supremacy and calls for the eradication of all non-Jews,” the MAB said in the statement.

Bezalel Smotrich, who belongs to the controversial Religious Zionist Party, is a political ally of former Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

He is a notorious racist, homophobe and Jewish ultra-nationalist.

Smotrich has a long history of making inflammatory and outlandish statements.

In April 2021, he said during remarks at a faction meeting that “Arabs are citizens of Israel, for now, at least. They have representatives, MKs, for now at least.”

During a heated exchange in the Knesset on October 13, 2021, he said that Palestinians exist in ‘Israel’ because Israel’s first prime minister and the architect of the Nakba, David Ben Gurion, did not “finish the job” of clearing out the territory of its indigenous populations.

Smotrich said to the Arab Knesset members, “I am not talking to you, anti-Zionists, terror supporters, enemies. You’re here by mistake because Ben Gurion didn’t finish the job and didn’t throw you out in 1948.”

He is also a staunch supporter of the construction of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian-owned lands.

Describing himself as a “proud homophobe”, he organised a “parade of beasts” to counter Gay Pride, marching donkeys and goats through the streets of occupied Jerusalem.