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Sajid Javid, 43, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said: “I’m a proud British-born Muslim and I love my country. There’s no other place on earth that I would wish to live.
“But if I was told for some reason that I had to leave with my young family and go and settle somewhere else in the Middle East. Where would I decide to go?
“Would I pick Dubai a vibrant city full of skyscrapers? No. Would I pick Saudi Arabia, a fabulously wealthy country and the home of the Prophet Mohammed? No.
“For me there’s only one answer – Israel, the only country in the Middle East that shares the democratic values of my country. It’s the only country in the Middle East where my children would feel the warm embrace of freedom and liberty.”
Mr Javid, a former senior managing director of Deutsche Bank, said that to understand the complexities of the region it was necessary to visit Israel and to experience it, rather than just reading about it.
Addressing Conservative Friends of Israel’s annual luncheon, he added that before last year’s CFI trip, he had visited Israel only once previously, on business.
“For me though,” he recalled, “it wasn’t just a political experience. It was an emotional one. The bond between Israel and Britain is so strong, it is a bond that will never be broken.”
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