Sir Christian Turner’s words are right —the US and UK being allies is a ‘special’ privilege

An old but memorable view holds that “an ambassador is an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country.” 

If true, the British ambassador to the United States has utterly failed to do his duty.

Instead, Sir Christian Turner told a very unfortunate truth about Great Britain and its tattered ties with America.

His words became public just as King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in Washington to try to mend relations with President Trump, who has publicly bashed Prime Minister Keir Starmer for refusing to support the US war effort in Iran. 

According to parts of a recording published by the Financial Times, Turner waded into trouble when he told visiting British students in February that he didn’t like the term “special relationship” to describe the link between the two countries. 

The phrase, said to have been coined by Winston Churchill after the Allied victory in World War II, was meant to describe the bond between the US and the UK that had endured over the centuries and through two world wars.

Since then, it has also survived the Cold War and two Gulf Wars. 

But Turner, who had just taken his post in Washington, was recorded as saying he wasn’t fond of the phrase because it was “quite nostalgic” and “backwards-looking,” while also suggesting it no longer applied.

He did tell the students, who were 16 and 17 years old, that UK-US ties were “strong” and that, “Particularly on defense and security, we are intertwined.”

Yet his government rebuked him when it said in a statement to CBS News that his remarks about the special relationship “are certainly not any reflection of the UK Government’s position.”

Perhaps, but there has been little that could be called “special” about the current state of bilateral relations.

Starmer has foolishly made common cause with anti-Trump leaders in France, Spain and Germany, almost as if he and they are as willing as Trump to break up the troubled NATO marriage. 

Nonetheless, it was something else that Turner said to the students in February that carries far greater significance for today and the near future.

As such, it commands our attention.

Almost casually, Turner said it seemed to him that the only country that has a “special relationship” with the United States these days is “probably Israel.” 

Whoa, Nellie. 

From a historic perspective, that is a remarkable statement about the state of the West and the world as a whole.

And yet, I see no evidence that Turner’s observation is wrong. 

Instead, his view accurately reflects the reality of the relationship between America and Israel, especially during the overlapping tenures of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Europe’s failures 

Their shared views about the need to confront Islamist governments and terrorists became apparent in Trump’s first term, when the two men worked to thwart Iran’s regional reach through its terror proxies. 

Former President Barack Obama’s failure to enforce his red line in Syria, and his craven courting of Iran’s mullahs and their nuclear fever dreams, along with Palestinian hardliners, all served to incentivize the worst of the worst. 

Trump took office in 2017 determined to change that failed course, and did so in dramatic ways.

He withdrew from Obama’s weak-tea nuclear pact, and his droning execution of Iran’s terror chief, Qasem Soleimani, was coupled with clear pro-Israeli changes. 

He fulfilled America’s long-standing promise to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, making him the most popular American president ever in Israel. 

He finished the term by birthing the Abraham Accords, which expanded the Jewish state’s security and trade relationships with Muslim and Arab neighbors.

The opening of a Kosher restaurant in Dubai marked a historic moment.

Trump’s first term was also marked by his rock-solid belief that our European partners in NATO had not been paying anywhere near a fair share of the costs of the defense pact. 

As angry as he was at them, he also correctly faulted his presidential predecessors who had let the Europeans get away with failing to contribute enough of the costs of a system designed to keep the Soviet Union, and now Russia, at bay. 

Although Trump has succeeded in getting most members to pay much more of the costs, there is also another key factor. 

It involves how Germany, France and the UK, among other European allies, have hobbled themselves militarily and economically to build expansive and massively expensive welfare states. 

To complicate matters even more, they opened their doors to as many as 25 million Muslim immigrants. Not surprisingly, the surge of antisemitism and violence against Jews continues across the continent. 

One outgrowth is that European governments have become increasingly estranged from Israel, as if they fear the loudest domestic voices.

The public celebrations after the Hamas savagery on Oct. 7, 2023, along with the condemnations for Israel daring to defend itself in Gaza, made it sickeningly clear where much of Europe stood.

Powerful partnership

Although Joe Biden made a show of supporting Israel against Hamas, much of the Democratic Party was more sympathetic to the Palestinians, as if Israel had no right to defend itself and eliminate the attackers. 

The overwrought charges of genocide, amplified by leftist media, fanned the coals of Jew-hatred and also cast doubt on America’s commitment to Israel’s survival. 

Thankfully, Trump’s 2024 election stopped that trend, and although recent polls show declining support for Israel across the political spectrum, Republicans and conservatives remain the most resilient supporters. 

For Israel, the very notion that it alone has a “special relationship” with America marks a breakout moment in its young history.

Its birth in 1948 and survival are testaments to a remarkable people who endured an effort to exterminate them and war after war when they reclaimed their ancient homeland. 

And now, as Ambassador Turner noted, Israel has a unique connection to the most powerful nation in human history and an American president who largely shares its worldview. 

The future is not guaranteed, of course, especially with both nations having important elections this year. 

More immediately, the tag-team partnership against Iran has done enormous damage to the mullahs’ fantasies of destroying the “little Satan” and the “great Satan” but has not yet succeeded in its three main objectives: ending Iran’s nuclear ambitions and ballistic missile programs, while also stopping its support for terror proxies.

The one certainty so far is that Israel has proved itself worthy of being the lone nation to have a “special relationship” with America.

Its resourcefulness, courage and commitment have made the two-country alliance extraordinarily powerful — and uniquely righteous.

Long may it endure and prevail.