In 1874, Benjamin Disraeli—whose Jewish father baptized him at age twelve after a falling out with the synagogue elders—became the first British prime minister not born a Christian. On Monday, Rishi Sunak, a Hindu, became the first actual non-Christian to hold the premiership. Kate Maltby compares the two Conservative politicians, while Georgia Gilholy examines what Sunak’s appointment means for British Jewry:

During his first leadership campaign this summer, Sunak told the Conservative Friends of Israel hustings that he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s “historic capital.” He agreed with [his predecessor] Liz Truss there was a “very strong case” for relocating the British embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Richmond MP also told the audience that he was committed to the construction of the controversial Westminster Holocaust memorial in Victoria Embankment Gardens, and vowed to get restrictions on BDS on the legislative agenda.

In an August interview, . . . he described Israel as a “shining beacon of hope.” He also promised to increase spending on Jewish security organizations such as the Community Security Trust, [a Jewish nonprofit that plays a crucial role in protecting synagogues and other Jewish institutions], expressing how he felt “horrified” by the need for security outside Jewish religious schools.

Mr. Sunak has also spoken up about the threat of Iran, warning in August that the attack on Salman Rushdie must function as a “wake-up call for the West,” and urged “maximum-pressure” sanctions on the Islamic Republic before considering any plans to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Analyzing the recent direct Iranian attack on Israel, and Israel’s security situation more generally, Michael Oren looks to the 2015 agreement to restrain Iran’s nuclear program. That, and President Biden’s efforts to resurrect the deal after Donald Trump left it, are in his view the source of the current crisis:

Of the original motivations for the deal—blocking Iran’s path to the bomb and transforming Iran into a peaceful nation—neither remained. All Biden was left with was the ability to kick the can down the road and to uphold Barack Obama’s singular foreign-policy achievement.

In order to achieve that result, the administration has repeatedly refused to punish Iran for its malign actions:

Historians will survey this inexplicable record and wonder how the United States not only allowed Iran repeatedly to assault its citizens, soldiers, and allies but consistently rewarded it for doing so. They may well conclude that in a desperate effort to avoid getting dragged into a regional Middle Eastern war, the U.S. might well have precipitated one.

While America’s friends in the Middle East, especially Israel, have every reason to feel grateful for the vital assistance they received in intercepting Iran’s missile and drone onslaught, they might also ask what the U.S. can now do differently to deter Iran from further aggression. . . . Tehran will see this weekend’s direct attack on Israel as a victory—their own—for their ability to continue threatening Israel and destabilizing the Middle East with impunity.

Israel, of course, must respond differently. Our target cannot simply be the Iranian proxies that surround our country and that have waged war on us since October 7, but, as the Saudis call it, “the head of the snake.”