Israel has an indirect interest in the independence movements in Scotland and Wales, and that interest may explain recent comments by United States President Donald Trump about reuniting Northern Ireland with the rest of Ireland, according to Vasily Yegorov, an analyst on British politics and author of the Telegram channel Westminster. He made the comments in an interview with Lenta.ru.
Yegorov said the United States and Israel are both unhappy with the United Kingdom's position on the conflict involving Iran and on Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank of the Jordan River. As a result, he said, officials in both countries have grown more vocal in backing independence for individual British territories.
He said Trump's remarks about Ireland amounted to something of a shock, noting that the American president appeared clearly disappointed with Britain over the Iranian conflict and that the two countries now have little common ground. Yegorov added that the comments also reflected the evident influence of the Israeli lobby, which he said is very unhappy with London's stance on settlement of the West Bank.
Trump's Remarks and the Falklands Claim
Trump made his comments on Irish reunification during a visit to Ireland, saying he would like to see the island's north reunited with the rest of the country. Around the same time, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on his government to recognize Argentine sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic that has been the subject of a long-running sovereignty dispute between the United Kingdom and Argentina.
Later on September 14, the first ministers of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, John Swinney, Michelle O'Neill and Rhun ap Iorwerth, signed a memorandum of understanding affirming the right of nations to self-determination.
Russian Reaction
The push by Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to separate from Britain has also drawn a response from Russia. Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin's special representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, described the United Kingdom as a "disunited kingdom" in a post on the social network X.
