From the Balfour Declaration, through the hostility towards the Jewish community, to the arms embargo - to the first royal visit in 2018 • The ambassadors share moments captured in their hearts

• Margaret Thatcher becomes the first British prime minister to visit Israel. May 1986

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  IP

Israel and the United Kingdom are currently celebrating 70 years of diplomatic ties. The two-year gap between the establishment of the state in 1948 and the establishment of official relations in 1950 are no coincidence. We have not forgotten nor forgotten the British sympathy for the Arabs of Israel in their war against the Jewish community. 

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The British, on the other hand, took decades to overcome the insult of their deportation from Palestine by the Hebrew underground. The evidence: Just two years ago, for the first time in the history of the country, he visited an official representative of the British royal house - he is not Prince William.

The relationship knew the ups and downs, which included a first visit by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s - but also an embargo on the First Lebanon War and the Second Intifada. However, over the last decade, a positive trend in relationships has begun. When the barking came, the cables seemed to come loose. Until the EU's departure, London aligned its hostility with Brussels. Since the retirement decision in 2016, former Prime Minister Theresa May and current Prime Minister Boris Johnson have allowed themselves to be much more positive.

Although the British continue to back the Palestinians, they can certainly be more rigid against Iran. Still, trade volumes are breaking records, air forces - who would have believed - are training side by side, and recently Hizbullah has been outlawed. 

Because in the end, with all the precipitation and tensions, we also remember who was the nation that stood firm against the greatest enemy that has ever risen to the Jewish people. This detail is also part of the history of Israeli-British relations.

Ambassador Insights

The ambassadors sent to the two countries over the years remember quite a few unique moments that added another floor to the building of Israeli-UK relations. "I was fortunate enough to serve at such an extraordinary time for a partnership between the two countries," shares current Ambassador Mark Regev toward the end of his term. The strength of the ongoing partnership between Israel and the United Kingdom. "

Sir Tom Phillips, the ambassador to Israel from 2010-2006, says: "At the beginning of my term, I asked a longtime, devout secular friend what it means to be a Jew for him, as a non-believer. He said: 'I am proud to be a small link in a chain of generations that lasts longer than This answer resonated with me as I pondered the unique and long chain of events that began centuries ago and led to the founding of the State of Israel. "

Dror Zeigerman, who was the British ambassador between 1998 and 2001, shares a unique experience: "In 2000, Eitan Ben Eliyahu, commander of the Israeli Air Force, visited London. At a dinner we held in his honor, a friendly conversation accompanied by alcohol, between me and the British Air Force Commander, developed. Me if I want to join a fighter jet flight. I immediately agreed, even though I was serving in the IDF Corps. I underwent close medical examinations, put on a flight coverall and sat in the pilot's seat behind the pilot. The plane, a Jaguar sample, made some of my dives, made flips in the air and passed the speed of sound. When we landed the pilot was sure to have a background in the field, as I held on without vomiting or dizziness. "

Sir Simon Macdonald, British Ambassador to Israel from 2006-2003, shares a nice anecdote: "I was invited to a big event at the Jerusalem Theater. There were probably more than a thousand people there. One can get by in Israel with just four words: "peace", since it carries many meanings and all are positive; "okay" since the most prominent characteristic of Israelis is leisurely; "mess", because the second characteristic of Israelis is directly; and "dome" Because it covers a lot of sins, and as soon as I turned, I lifted my dome and exposed my baldness. The crowd laughed. Understand the country in which they are placed, even when not speak the language. "