Making the case for Israel

Two weeks ago, attorney Trevor Asserson, a prominent pro-Israel advocate in the British media, received a phone call from the BBC. "Could you come to our offices in London-" the voice on the other end of the line asked. "My office is in Tel Aviv, but I could come to your studio in Jerusalem," Asserson answered, knowing how the story would unfold. The BBC never got back to him.

"It's nothing new, I'm used to it," he says. "British media, and particularly the BBC, are not exactly fans of Israel, nor are other major Western media outlets. The biggest battle Israel faces is in the media, because if the boycott efforts, which are being backed by Western media, reach a level where they actually affect life in Israel, that will inflict untold damage. You can talk about the Iranian threat, you can talk about the stabbing attacks and call them a third intifada, but these threats won't undermine Israel as much as a boycott or a media onslaught. That could lead to an irrevocable situation; that's the real battle."

For over a decade, Asserson, 58, a U.K. solicitor and a member of the Israeli Bar, has been devoting much of his company's resources to the fight for Israel's international image. His firm, Asserson Law Offices, looks over Tel Aviv from the 32nd floor of the Azrieli Towers, and offers Israeli companies legal services to help them conduct business in Europe and the U.K., including establishing a company, hiring personnel, acquiring real estate or resolving legal disputes, he explains.

City of London, corner of Begin Road

Before establishing his firm in 2005, Asserson had a flourishing career in the U.K. as a leading sports attorney, working with some of Britain's top litigation firms. He eventually became bored with sports, finding the BBC, and especially its coverage of Israel, more fascinating. Over the past decade, with Israel moving from one military campaign to the next, its international image taking one hit after the other and reaching new lows, Asserson found himself one of the few pro-Israel advocates on the media frontline in the U.K.

"Recent events certainly fall under the category of an escalation. Attitudes toward Israel have become more radical, and you can feel it everywhere," he says. "If you're Jewish-Israeli and you have a job interview with a British media outlet, you have a problem -- your chances of getting the job are smaller. No one will spell out why, but I think it's rather clear."

In 2012, Asserson took on The Guardian, after the British daily began referring to Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital. The decision caused an uproar, and the paper eventually printed a correction saying that, while it was "justified to make clear Israel’s designation of Jerusalem as its capital is not recognized by the international community, we accept that it is wrong to state that Tel Aviv -- the country’s financial and diplomatic center -- is the capital. The style guide has been amended accordingly."

Not only did the firm's efforts ensure The Guardian mend its style guide, it led to a ruling by the U.K.'s Press Complaints Commission, a nongovernmental regulatory body that has the authority to force publications to run corrections, effectively barring British media from referring to Tel Aviv as Israel's capital. "The unequivocal statement that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel had the potential to mislead readers and raised a breach of ... the Editors' Code of Practice," the commission ruled.

Asserson stressed that his firm takes such cases on as part of its pro bono work, "because we feel it's important, and it's interesting."

Elliot Lister, a partner at Asserson Law Offices, offers another theory: "There's no doubt Israel is not Britain's favorite right now, but this [issue] has several aspects. First, you have to look at [the British] government policy, where we have support. The prime minister is pro-Israel and he backs Israeli government policies. You also have to remember that the Jewish communities play their part by maintaining their identity."

Lister, 52, said the Jewish community in Britain has undergone vast changes over the past 40 years.

"Back then you had 'regular' people, who came to synagogue two or three times a year and still had a sense of who they were and their place in the community. Today it's completely different. The Jewish communities -- people either became ultra-Orthodox, or assimilated completely. The [Jewish communities'] character has completely changed. They don't rush to express support for Israel, which naturally affects how the community perceives Israel, and by extent, the British perception.

"I think the link many British people, even in government institutions, have to the Muslim world breeds hostility toward Israel. The majority of the public is not familiar with the roots of the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict. Most of them don't even know where Israel is."

Zionism, business and anti-Semitism

Once comprising solely Asserson and his laptop, the firm has expanded and now has 30 employees, each of whom travels to London once a month on average.

"I didn't want them to work in London and live in Israel only on the weekends. I wanted them to live in the Anglo-Saxon ghetto in Jerusalem," Asserson laughs. "There was a Zionist goal here. I definitely think that as new immigrants, who struggle with coming from England and have to acclimate to an uneasy landing here, we need to find ways for them to both integrate in society and contribute to it."

The U.K. is a hotbed for Israeli ventures. Financial ties between London and Jerusalem comprise official trade relations, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars annually; Israeli businesspeople who prefer investing in Britain due to tax benefits; and U.K.-based, Israeli-owned companies that no one really knows are owned by Israelis. And then there is the British understanding that Israelis may be tough negotiators, but they know how to do business.

Baruch Baigel, an associate at the firm, said many of its clients have never even heard of Israel.

"Some of them don’t even know where it is on the map, and they ask funny questions," he said. "When they land here they're surprised. They don't care about diplomatic ties -- they care about business and money."

A rising star in the British legal world, Baigel had a promising career ahead of him when he decided to immigrate to Israel. Asked what the hell he was thinking, he smiled and said, "From a very young age I could relate to the pioneering spirit of it. There was something magical about it. It was instilled in me. While I can't be a pioneer, coming here, raising my children in Israel -- that's our generation's pioneering endeavor. I don’t think it hurt my career.

"I haven’t had too many brushes with anti-Semitism in my life. Occasionally, someone would say something on the street, but it's not like my career would have suffered because I'm Jewish. Britain is a long way from that. My coming to Israel was not about them, it was about me, about how I felt, and the life I wanted for me and my family."

Still, when Asserson attorneys arrive at preliminary meetings or court in the U.K., some of them remove their kippot. A sense of being different is still prevalent, and they do not wish to stir up anything other than the issue at hand. But when corporate giants duke it out in the legal arena, all they care about is that the Jewish lawyers show them the money, and Asserson attorneys have a take-no-prisoners attitude to their cases, making them not only very good at what they do but also advocates of Israel in many situations, some less pleasant than others.

"I grew up in Liverpool, and I never felt different or like someone placed any importance on who I was," said associate Hadie Cohen, 34. "Even when I moved up in my career, no one was bothered by the fact I was Jewish or a woman. They wanted me to do my job the best way possible, and if I had to leave work earlier than the others on Friday, to catch up on it later in the week. As long as you do your job I really don’t think it matters."

According to Cohen, the only time she felt the air had changed in Liverpool was during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip in 2008.

"For the first time in my life, I saw an anti-Israel demonstration in the heart of Liverpool. It was an unusual sight in the local landscape. It was daunting," she said.

Asserson himself remembers well how the BBC sought legal action against him once, after he refused to cower before it, as well as the fact that the BBC has all but made war criminals out of Israeli soldiers in the British public eye. He is also well aware of the blatant anti-Israel propaganda prevalent in British academia, and how some senior faculty members in the U.K.'s top universities level scathing, sometimes unbridled, criticism at Israel when lecturing students.

"You won't see it in big corporations, because if an Israeli were to work there, he would be just another cog in the machine, a foreign worker that has to perform to advance his career, but you have to remember, everything is taking place in a radical Muslim-friendly atmosphere. Maybe things will change a little in the wake of the recent Paris attacks. I certainly don't believe the BBC reflects British public opinion as a whole, even if its reporting is clearly biased against Israel," he said.

British Ambassador to Israel David Quarrey is well aware of the importance of British-Israeli relations, especially when it comes to the two allies' trade ties, said David Prais, a real estate attorney and the firm's managing partner.

"Israeli businessmen know how to read the map in England well," Prais said. He said Israelis looking for real estate opportunities in the U.K. are looking beyond the high prices of London -- "buying in London is more of an ego thing" -- and setting their sights on Birmingham, Newcastle, and other locations, "where you can buy a high-rise for prices London simply doesn’t offer. You won't find anyone who refuses to do business with Israelis, but naturally, these things don't always make the news."

Still, Asserson warned that Israel has been losing the battle for public opinion in Britain.

"We may have the best military in the world, and it may be able to defeat Hamas and our other enemies, but it means nothing in this particular battle for public opinion," he said. "Neither does our military history. In reality, which is all about the fight for public opinion, the Palestinians have been amassing one victory after another for the past 30 years. It's time for Israel to start fighting on this front as well."

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