MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : BRITISH JEWRY WELCOMES BORIS JOHNSON

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post from London, Charles Braunstein welcomed Johnson’s election as a positive step forward for the UK.

By Ilanit Chernick  July 23, 2019 20:41  – JERUSALEM POST – British Jewry is cautiously optimistic that the election on Tuesday of former London mayor Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and the UK’s prime minister will prove good for both the Jewish community and Britain-Israel ties.Speaking to The Jerusalem Post from London, Charles Braunstein welcomed Johnson’s election as a positive step forward for the UK.

“Boris is the best-placed politician to break the current Brexit impasse with the EU,” he said. “This is key for the UK to move on, and will also lessen the chance of [Labour leader] Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister. Boris also has a plan to re-energize the UK economy based on the following principle: A strong economy is the essential platform in providing strong public services.”

Braunstein added that Johnson is a “great friend of Israel,” and combining this “with his ability to defeat Jeremy Corbyn, British Jews should take a lot of positives out of this victory.”

He said that Johnson’s priority will be a successful delivery of Brexit, which the new prime minister has pledged will go ahead on October 31, with or without a deal with the EU.

Tova, also from London who didn’t want her last name used, had a mixed reaction to Johnson’s appointment, saying that he is adamant for Brexit to happen “and therefore he will get Brexit done no matter what, which is a bit scary because it might cost the economy. He was a decent London mayor, so I am not too worried.”

She said she preferred anyone as prime minister instead of Corbyn, adding that the Conservative Party is the most pro-Jewish and pro-Israel party in the UK. Nadav Lawrence, originally from Liverpool, said that “for all the character and bravado he puts on, and the noise those on the Left make about him, politically he is very much in the Center-Right and Liberal camp.