"He was already climbing the fence": The senior official at the London embassy recalls the moments of horror
Daniela Grodsky-Ekstein, who has finished five years in London, recounted in an interview with the 'Telegraph' the attempted terror attack at the embassy and warned of antisemitism and the deterioration of relations between Israel and Britain.
Five years after arriving in London, Daniela Grodsky-Ekstein, the Charge d'Affaires and acting head of the Israeli diplomatic service in the UK, looks back on a particularly turbulent period. In an interview with the British 'Telegraph' on the occasion of the end of her tenure, she weaves together chilling personal experiences — including a close encounter with a knife-wielding terrorist outside the embassy building — with poignant insights into the deteriorating relationship between Jerusalem and London and the wave of antisemitism sweeping the Kingdom.
Last April, Grodsky-Ekstein nearly paid with her life when she passed by Abdallah Al-Badri, an asylum seeker who arrived on a small boat and sought to carry out a suicide attack at the Israeli embassy. The terrorist was arrested at the last moment by local police.
"I remember it well. The security guards urged me to leave the building because I was the last one to leave at the end of the workday. When they cleared me to leave, within two minutes he was already climbing the fence."
The diplomat admits that today she feels safer at home: "The word 'antisemitism' is not something we as Israelis connect to on a daily basis at home, because we don't encounter it there. We have other security threats, but your fate is in your own hands."
According to her, the country's leadership in Jerusalem struggles to understand the dimensions of antisemitism in the UK, which are fueled, among other things, by local media and demonstrations in support of Gaza. "Ultimately, antisemitism is on the rise. What they don't see in Jerusalem is the direct link between these attacks and the enabling environment," she explains, pointing to the influence of broadcasts and calls against the IDF on the streets.
"When I sit here and you can hear it from outside, you think to yourself: 'If I leave the embassy, will I be safe?'. It was alarming."
Diplomatic relations, which reached a peak of cooperation during the Conservative government, suffered a fatal blow with the victories of the Labour Party and its decisions to suspend arms export licenses and recognize a Palestinian state.
"Britain has become, in a sense, much less relevant in our decision-making processes and less influential in the region," Grodsky-Ekstein notes with regret.
She concludes her remarks with a direct appeal to the public and leaders in Britain: "Put yourselves in Israel's shoes. I understand there is great empathy for the Palestinians, but you must understand that our democracy also needs a friendly hand."
