Margaret Thatcher: The Honorary Jew - How Britain’s Jews Helped Shape the Iron Lady and Her Beliefs

One of the lesser-known aspects of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership was the critical role played by Jews in sparking and sustaining her revolution. Was this chance, choice or simply a reflection of the fact that, as she herself said: ‘I just wanted a Cabinet of clever, energetic people and frequently that turned out to be the same thing’? In this book, the first to explore Mrs Thatcher’s relationship with Britain’s Jewish community, Robert Philpot shows that her regard did not come simply from her representing a constituency with more Jewish voters than any other, but stretched back to childhood. The author explores, too, how that relationship had a far-reaching impact on both her domestic and her Middle East policies. Based on archives, memoirs and interviews with everyone from former Cabinet ministers and advisors to constituency workers and political opponents, The Honorary Jew tells how Mrs Thatcher saw her own philosophical and political beliefs expressed in the values of Judaism.It tells, too, how, with the help of the Chief Rabbi, Immanuel Jakobovits, she fought the Church of England, and how her attachment to Israel led her to internal battles as a member of Edward Heath’s government and, as Prime Minister, with the Arab-supporting Foreign Office, as well as her relationships with Israeli leaders as different as Golda Meir, Shimon Peres, and Menachem Begin.