Allegations that a
senior British diplomat launched into
an anti-Semitic rant in a London gym while watching TV footage from
Gaza will not upset the "treadmill of diplomacy", the Israeli
Ambassador to London said today.
In a curiously
tongue-in-cheek response to a case that
has provoked concern within the Jewish community in Britain, Ron Prosor
added that the tirade did not reflect "the health and fitness of our
relations".
The diplomat,
47-year-old Rowan Laxton, allegedly shouted
"f***ing Israelis, f***ing Jews" while watching television reports of
the Israeli attack on Gaza last month.
He is also alleged to
have said that Israeli soldiers
should be "wiped off the face of the Earth" during the rant at the
London Business School gym near Regents Park on January 27. The tirade
reportedly continued even after other gym users asked him to stop.
After a complaint from a
member of the public, Mr
Laxton was arrested for inciting religious hatred - which can carry a
seven-year prison term - and bailed to reappear at a central
London police station at the end of March.
In the meantime, he
continues to work as usual as head of
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's South Asian group, in charge of
UK diplomatic policy in the region. In that job he would be expected
directly to brief the Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who is himself
Jewish.
The FCO refused to
comment on the case while police
inquiries are continuing, but Mr Prosor released a statement to The
Times this afternoon in which he made it clear that Israel would let
the Foreign Office deal with the problem as it saw fit.
He said: "The treadmill
of diplomacy between our
countries continues to run smoothly. The abusive tirade of this one
individual should not be seen as a reflection of the health and fitness
of our relations.
"From the nature of our
work with the British Foreign
Office, we understand that the unacceptable outburst expressed by a
British diplomat does not reflect the official policy of the United
Kingdom and we have been informed that an internal investigation is
currently taking place.
"If the investigation
concludes that the incident
actually occurred, appropriate action will be taken [by the Foreign
Office]."
Mr Prosor's sanguine
response appears to be at odds with
that of the Jewish community in Britain. Mark Gardner, deputy director
of the Community Security Trust which monitors anti-Semitism, said:
"There were an unprecedented number of anti-Semitic incidents during
the Gaza conflict.
"This alleged case is
particularly shocking, given the
position held by the civil servant in question. We must not allow an
overseas conflict to cause racism here in Britain and especially not
among civil servants.
"The Jewish community
will be rightly appalled to hear of
these allegations against such a senior figure."
