Jerusalem watches the rise of Nick Clegg [View All]

Israel was maintaining a diplomatic silence Tuesday amid reports from the UK that the Liberal-Democrats, a rising force in British politics whose leader has taken highly critical positions on Israel, would seek control of the Foreign Office and several other senior positions if Thursday’s general elections give the party the balance of power in a hung parliament.

Government officials said it would be inappropriate for Israel to make any comment at all on the British elections, in which Labor Prime Minister Gordon Brown is battling both the traditional rival Conservative Party, led by David Cameron, and an unexpected third-party challenge from the Lib-Dems under Nick Clegg.

Privately, however, the view in Jerusalem is that it would be deeply problematic for Israel were Clegg’s party to unexpectedly prevail in the elections or, more realistically, fare well enough to deny Labor or the Conservatives an outright majority in the House of Commons. Clegg has repeatedly lambasted Israel for using “disproportionate” force in Operation Cast Lead, slammed the blockade of Gaza and, in an op-ed article last year, demanded that Britain and the EU halt arms sales to Israel.

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