British Prime Minister David Cameron said in an interview with The Jewish Chronicle published today that he understands and supports Israel’s needs to protect its citizens, stating that Israel had a right to defend itself against Hamas during Operation Protective Edge last year.

“What I’ve seen is the attacks that take place on Israel and the indiscriminate nature of them. As PM, putting yourself in the shoes of the Israeli people, who want peace but have to put up with these indiscriminate attacks — that reinforces to me the importance of standing by Israel and Israel’s right to defend itself.

“I feel very strongly that this equivalence that sometimes people try to draw when these attacks take place is so completely wrong and unfair.

“Because Israel is trying to defend against indiscriminate attacks, while trying to stop the attackers — and there’s such a difference between that and the nature of the indiscriminate attacks that Israel receives.

In a preview of the interview that was published Tuesday, Cameron also said, “Obviously we regret the loss of life wherever it takes place, but I do think there’s an important difference – as Prime Minister Netanyahu put it: Israel uses its weapons to defend its people and Hamas uses its people to defend its weapons.”

Cameron also noted that he has promoted scientific collaboration with Israel, saying that “there’s a lot we can learn from the creative culture Israel has produced in the link up between universities, science-based businesses, and defence industries.” He also said that he placed a priority on ensuring that Britain’s Jewish community is protected in light of the terror targeting Jews elsewhere in Europe.

[Photo: IsraeliPM / YouTube ]