Tommy Robinson's Israeli Govt-Funded Hasbara Tour Backfires

Chris Menahan
InformationLiberation
Oct. 22, 2025

Tommy Robinson went to Israel on a government-funded propaganda tour only to get humiliated repeatedly and condemned by members of the foreign government he sought to serve.

Rabbi Yishai Fleisher, a former advisor to Itamar Ben-Gvir who serves as the international spokesperson for the Jewish Community of Hebron, told Robinson the British "have a special place in hell for turning on the Jewish people."

"Robinson—who fashions himself a British nationalist—just sits there and takes it, assuring him Brits love Israel," I noted on X.


Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, who Wikipedia notes is the "first openly gay right-wing member of the Knesset and the first openly gay man from Likud to serve in the Knesset," further humiliated Robinson by shushing him for jumping the gun and interrupting him during his little scripted spiel.


The trip quickly turned into an apology tour with Robinson visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem to atone for his sins:


He also disavowed British nationalists who think ethnic Brits are the real British people and told the Israeli media that unlike ethno-nationalists, he doesn't "believe that Jews are flooding Europe [with immigrants]."



When Robinson tried his shtick claiming that the Anti-Defamation League and the Board of Deputies of British Jews are somehow in bed with pro-Palestine groups and don't represent Jews, the i24 reporter countered that they're diehard pro-Israel groups—at which point he just started stammering.

A Jewish Majority poll released in February found that 79% of American Jews "are members of or generally support the policies of the Anti-Defamation League."


It turns out the Board of Deputies of British Jews (just like the ADL) does in fact represent Jews.

From Haaretz, "'Slap in the Face': Israeli Minister Ordered to Apologize for Inviting British Far-Right Agitator Tommy Robinson":
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli was instructed on Tuesday to issue a formal apology to leaders of the U.K. Jewish community for not consulting with them before inviting far-right British agitator Tommy Robinson to Israel on an official visit last week.

The demand was included in a resolution passed by the Knesset committee responsible for relations with the Jewish Diaspora, in which Chikli was fiercely rebuked not only for circumventing the main representative body of British Jewry, but also for apparently not consulting with Israel's Foreign Ministry before bringing Robinson to the country.

"Robinson's visit was a slap in the face to British Jewry," said MK Gilad Kariv, chair of the Knesset Committee for Aliyah, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs.

The committee devoted its session on Tuesday to clarifying who knew what about Robinson's trip and the need to formulate clear guidelines for extending invitations to leaders of controversial political parties and movements, especially when their presence in Israel could compromise the local Jewish communities from where they come.

Yacov Livne, deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry, said that "to the best of my knowledge," Chikli did not inform the Foreign Ministry of his plan to invite Robinson.
That sounds like they were informed but are now changing their tune due to trip being a PR disaster.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the representative body of the U.K. Jewish community, was outraged by the invitation extended to Robinson by a member of the Israeli government.

Speaking at the Knesset session via Zoom, Michael Wegier, its executive director, said: "Had Chikli asked us whether it was befitting to invite the man who calls himself Tommy Robinson to the Knesset, we would have given him an unequivocal 'no.'"

By "rolling out the red carpet" for Robinson, Wegier said, "Israel has caused us, as well as itself, great embarrassment."
"Tommy Robinson's visit turns out to be a massive PR disaster... not because of him, but because of the messianic representatives who allow themselves to say things that even Robinson understands are an own goal for any propaganda purpose," a small Israeli account lamented on X.

Rabbi Fleisher, meanwhile, tried to walk back his inflammatory comments.

"Mr. [Tommy Robinson] is a GREAT BRITISH NATIONALIST!" Fleisher wrote. "My reference to 'special place in hell' was in regard to the empowerment of the Arab war on the fledgling Jewish State by the British government back in 1948. British pro-Jihadism back then is as bad as turning a blind eye to Jihadism in the UK today. That's what Tommy agreed with!"


Apparently, Robinson somehow read Fleisher's mind and agreed with a statement he didn't make. Robinson himself retweeted Fleisher's comment, so evidently that's just what they decided to run with. In reality, Robinson actually started fidgeting and stuck his tongue out before gasping and trying his best to move on.

All that said, the way Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli rolled out the red carpet for Robinson stands in stark contrast to his treatment of popular influencers who buck Israel's agenda.

As I reported last year, Chikli publicly threatened Dan Bilzerian, Tucker Carlson, and Candace Owens that they're being "monitored" as "engines of antisemitism" for criticizing the Jewish state's mass slaughter of women and children in Gaza.

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