Daniel Taub, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, is due to give a talk at the Cambridge Union Society next Monday, 26 November.

Taub, a British-born diplomat with degrees from the Universities of Oxford and London, has over twenty years’ of experience in Israeli foreign affairs.
His visit to the Union comes amidst the renewal of conflict between Israel and Gaza, after the assassination of a Hamas military leader last Wednesday. Since then, over 138 Palestinians and five Israelis have been killed.

An expert in international law, Taub previously served as a reserve officer in the Israeli Defence Forces’ international law division, and has also held positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Israel’s legal advisor to the United Nations in New York and Geneva. He has extensive experience in the Palestine-Israel peace process and has been involved in most negotiations, as well as those between Israel and Syria.

Egyptian diplomats, as well as Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the UN, and Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, are currently attempting to negotiate a ceasefire. But last Tuesday, a UN Security Council resolution condemning the conflict was blocked by the US on the grounds that it did not address the ‘root cause’ of Hamas rocket fire. The long-standing conflict has so far failed to result in a permanent solution accepted by both sides. In two weeks’ time, the Palestinian Authority, the authoritative body of the West Bank, will approach the UN to request the recognition of a Palestinian state.

Reactions to Taub’s planned appearance at the Union have been mixed. Facebook data suggests that over 140 students plan to attend the event; but one student noted the disparity that Israel has an internationally-recognised government with the funds to attend such events abroad, whereas the Palestinian governing bodies have neither.

But Cambridge’s Israel Society welcomes his visit as “extremely positive” and an “opportunity to hear from, and exchange views with an official representative of the Israeli government with extensive knowledge about the current situation”. They condemn Hamas’ “reign of terror over Israel” as “intolerable”.

By contrast, the Cambridge branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign is “dismayed” at the Union’s decision to invite Taub as a representative of Israel in light of their recent “merciless attacks on a heavily populated and largely defenceless enclave”.

Moreover, they point out, Taub “defended Operation Cast Lead 4 years ago” [Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza in 2008-9 following rocket attacks, resulting in over 1,100 Palestinian deaths], and they argue that Israel “has ignored innumerable UN resolutions, and contravenes the 4th Geneva Convention on several fronts, as testified by human rights groups”.

Taub made his position on the current crisis clear in an article for the
Huffington Post UK, published last Tuesday. Drawing parallels between the British experience of the Blitz and Israeli citizens’ fear of Hamas rocket fire, Taub argued that Israel’s “need for action was clear” given Hamas’ “sinister and illegitimate” actions against Israeli civilians. He accuses Hamas – which, he notes, the British government sees as a terrorist organisation – of “hiding behind” innocent Palestinians, who Israel is “doing its utmost to avoid injuring”.

But in reply, Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP for Exeter and former Cabinet minister, argues that “this is not just about rockets and self-defence. “It’s about 1.3 million Palestinians crowded into a tiny strip of land (or “prison camp” as David Cameron called it)... Israel’s continued blockade has strangled Gaza’s economy and only served to encourage the militants”.