Mob branded Israel envoy ‘Zionist scum’ at Cambridge Union debate

Israel’s ambassador to Britain was branded ‘Zionist scum’ by protesters who tried to block her car as she attended a Cambridge Union debate. 

Tzipi Hotovely, 42, was met by a crowd of demonstrators before the debate and her speech was later interrupted by shouts and chants. 

The protesters were heard chanting Hamas slogans and set off flares as they demonstrated.  

The university’s Palestine Society later told the Middle East Eye: ‘We don’t think that anyone that represents a state engaging in illegal practices and abuse of human rights should be given a platform in our city and university.’

It comes just months after Hotovely faced a student mob when giving a lecture at the London School of Economics.

The scenes in Cambridge saw a 100-strong mob gather outside the Student Union on Tuesday while chanting ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’. 

The protesters were heard chanting Hamas slogans and set off flares as they demonstrated

It comes just months after Hotovely faced a student mob when giving a lecture at the London School of Economics

Last month, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi told the Jewish Chronicle that universities must alert police if they hear the chant. 

The activists also called Israel an ‘apartheid state’, lit flares and blew whistles.   

They cut short Hotovely’s speech before staging a sit-in and blocking the entrance of the car park where her convoy was parked. 

Eventually, the sit-in was broken up, before Hotovely was shielded by an umbrella and bundled into her car. 

Despite the chaos, the ambassador later tweeted: ‘Thank you Cambridge Union for hosting me today, and to the students for asking such interesting questions on Israel & the future of the Middle East. The spirit of debate shown by the students makes me optimistic about our future.’

In November, the Israeli ambassador branded hard-Left activists ‘shameful’ after they tried to intimidate her following a lecture at the London School of Economics.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Tzipi Hotovely said the thugs attempted to silence her by ‘shouting and screaming’ – but will not succeed.

The diplomat was harassed by an angry mob after delivering a lecture to the LSE’s student union debating society.

Beating drums and chanting, they booed her and shouted: ‘Aren’t you ashamed’ as her bodyguards bundled her into a car.

The activists also called Israel an ‘apartheid state’, lit flares and blew whistles

Before the event, an Instagram account called LSE Class War urged students to storm the building and ‘make her shake’, adding: ‘Whoever smashes the Ambassador car window gets pints.’

Mrs Hotovely was at the university for an event called Israel’s Perspective: A New Era in the Middle East.

She told the Mail she spoke successfully for 90 minutes to a room of 50 students, with 100 more listening on Zoom.

She said LSE made sure her ‘freedom of speech wouldn’t be hurt’ and she was able to ‘reach out’ to students.

She said: ‘The protesters were shouting and screaming throughout the event but they didn’t disturb [it] because the British police and my security made it clear that the event would take place.

Religious right-winger Tzipi Hotovley supports expanding Israeli settlements on West Bank and opposes Jewish-Muslim marriage

Tzipi Hotovley is the Israeli Ambassador to the UK. 

She is on the right wing of Israeli politics and supports expanding Israeli settlements on the West Bank as well as opposing Jewish-Muslim marriages.

The Orthodox Jew describes herself as a ‘religious right-winger’ and was born and raised in Rehovot, near Tel Aviv. 

Pro-Palestinians and left-wing Israelis fiercely oppose her support for the expansion of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory, rejection of a two-state Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and support for a ‘greater Israel’.  

She has said before: ‘This land is ours. All of it is ours. We did not come here to apologise for that.’ 

Her family have roots in what was the ex-Soviet republic Georgia, with her parents Gabriel and Roziko Hotovely immigrating to Israel before she was born.

After leaving school Ms Hotovley did two years Sherut Leumi, which is what some religious women do instead of National Service in the army.

Ms Hotovely was a controversial choice as Israel’s Ambassador to the UK, having been appointed by former PM Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured together) and a member of his Likud party

 In 2008 she joined Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and became a member of the Knesset. 

Critics on the left opposed Ms Hotovely’s appointment  as Israel’s Ambassador to the UK, after she was first appointed as settlements minister by former PM Benjamin Netanyahu and a member of his Likud party.  

A petition was set up last year to ban her from becoming ambassador, which read: ‘Hotovely has an appalling record of racist and inflammatory behavior from throughout her political career.

‘As British Jews we are clear: Tzipi Hotovely’s values and politics have no place in the UK. It is crucial that the UK government sends a message that her views are unacceptable, and rejects her nomination as ambassador.’ Ms Hotovely was also deputy foreign minister from 2015 to 2020, a move panned by some for her views on Israel’s settlement movement and rejection of the two-state solution.

She found herself in hot water in 2017 for suggesting American Jews lack patriotism because most ‘don’t have children in the US military’. She questioned whether ‘people that never send their children to fight for their country’ could understand the ‘complexity’ of the Middle East.

‘Most of the Jews don’t have children serving as soldiers, going to the Marines, going to Afghanistan or to Iraq,’ she said on i24 TV news. ‘They don’t feel how it feels to be attacked by rockets, and I think part of it is to actually experience what Israel is dealing with on a daily basis,’ said Ms Hotovely. 

‘They were trying to put on a lot of pressure and basically intimidating us.’ She said she felt ‘very protected’ by her security team and by the police.

However, she added: ‘I do think it’s shameful that people are trying to silence diplomats from a democratic country.

‘Even expressions about hurting my vehicle are unacceptable. It’s an incitement to violence.’

The protests appear to have been organised by LSE for Palestine, which calls itself a ‘student group’ which ‘calls for the liberation of Palestine’.

It later congratulated protesters on their ‘march’, calling it ‘peaceful’. There is no suggestion it is connected with the LSE Class War Instagram account – which last night was shut down.

Mrs Hotovely, a lawyer, a married mother of three daughters and a practising Orthodox Jew, said: ‘I will continue to speak in every British campus. I will not allow those radical groups to shape the discourse in academia.

‘Those groups are really against this very basic value of dialogue [and] freedom of speech.’ She is controversial among pro-Palestinians because as a former minister she has sought global recognition for West Bank settlements. 

Nadhim Zahawi condemned the events outside the university, adding: ‘This is harassment and it will have deeply shaken Jewish students.

‘I have invited Jewish students from LSE to a meeting to hear directly from them and offer any support that I can.’

Home Secretary Priti Patel and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also condemned the protests.

Foreign Secretary Ms Truss said: ‘We in Britain believe in freedom of speech. The treatment of Israeli Ambassador @TzipiHotovely last night and the attempt to silence her was unacceptable.’

Minister for Middle East and North Africa in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office James Cleverly added: ‘We value open debate and peaceful protest.

‘The aggressive and threatening behaviour directed at Israeli Ambassador @TzipiHotovely last night was unacceptable.’

Ms Hotovely tweeted: ‘I’m thankful for all the support I have received from the British government, many friends and partners.

‘I had an excellent event at #LSE and I will not be intimidated. I will continue to share the Israeli story and hold open dialogue with all parts of British society.’

A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy told MailOnline: ‘Ambassador Hotovely was invited to speak with students at The LSE titled the ”New Era in the Middle East”.

‘It was a successful, open and fruitful discussion that went ahead as planned. Outside the venue, there was a demonstration organised by Palestinian and Islamic societies across London universities.

‘British police maintained order at the scene. The violence we witnessed when the ambassador left the premises after the talk will not deter Israeli diplomats from engaging in meaningful dialogue with all parts of the British society.’

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, who shared a video of the protests outside the event on Twitter, added: ‘This is absolutely shocking. At a London university.’

Efrat Hochstetler, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, posted: ‘The Israeli Ambassador to the UK, @TzipiHotovely, had to be escorted out of an event under heavy security due to a violent protest by ‘pro-Palestinians’, so-called human rights defenders.

‘These people are not ‘PRO’ anything, if the very rights they presume to defend are negotiable. Amb. Hotovely was *trying* to engage with the public, that is part of her mission as an Israeli diplomat. Anyone who prevents her from doing so is a BULLY and a HYPOCRITE.’

Scotland Yard said there were no arrests. An LSE spokesman said intimidation was ‘completely unacceptable’ and students found to be involved would face disciplinary action.