Charles III, by Citing the Falklands, Could Rebuke Anglican Condemnation of ‘Colonial’ Israel

Pressure is building on King Charles III to repudiate Kairos II, a theological and political document condemning Israelis as “settlers” in the ancient Jewish homeland. As the Church of England’s supreme governor, the sovereign’s best reason for rejecting the missive may be practical: It relies on the same logic as Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands.Officially titled “A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide,” Kairos II calls Israel a “colonial, settler, and exclusionary entity” and rejects Jerusalem’s “claim of ‘self-defense.’” It asks, “How can a colonizer defend itself against those it has colonized and expelled?”The language echoes Argentine rhetoric about the Falklands, which are built on feelings rather than facts. That passion spilled over on Wednesday at the World Cup. Following a victory over England to reach the finals, Argentina’s team unfurled a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” meaning the Falklands are Argentine.Argentina’s Giovani Lo Celso holds a banner with the words ‘The Malvinas are Argentine, referring to the Falkland Islands, at the end of the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina at Atlanta, July 15, 2026. AP/Rebecca BlackwellThe slogan invoked the 1982 Falklands War when Buenos Aires invaded the islands. British forces expelled them, exercising a right to self-defense as the territory’s first inhabitants. But Argentina calls the U.K. colonizers, ignoring the fact that they held the original title to the land and Buenos Aires never has.Argentina’s foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, called Falklanders “artificially implanted” and the British presence “an illegitimate occupation” in an op-ed on Sunday in La Nación. In April, President Javier Milei said on ArgenData that his country was doing “everything humanly possible” to see “the entire territory return to the hands of Argentina.”The word “return” is deceptive. Just as Palestine never existed as a country, Buenos Aires never governed the South Atlantic islands. No humans lived there when a British captain, John Strong, planted the Union Jack in 1690. Argentina obtained independence from Spain only in 1816, and its lone attempt to settle there — for a penal colony in 1832 — failed.Buenos Aires seeks to start history in 1982 just as Kairos II ignores thousands of years prior to the founding of modern Israel in 1948. The missive calls Palestinians the “indigenous people of this land” and makes a false equivalence to South Africa’s apartheid, although Arab Israelis serve in all levels of their country’s government.President Javier Milei, center, marking the 44th anniversary of the Falklands war on April 2, 2026 at Buenos Aires. Tomas Cuesta/Getty ImagesA former archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, laid out the risk of the king staying silent on Kairos II. He could “find that the church he represents is now committed to promoting a document that ‘risks undermining decades of careful relationship-building’ in the words of Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.”The king’s official role, “defender of the faith,” predates the Anglican split with the Catholic Church in 1534. In a 1994 BBC interview, the then-prince said he’d prefer to reign as “defender of faith” in general. The traditional title, he said, “means just one particular interpretation of the faith,” while faith itself was “so much under threat these days.”In a 2015 interview on BBC Radio 2, the king dilated on the role he hoped to play. “I mind about the inclusion of other people’s faiths and their freedom to worship in this country,” he said. “And it’s always seemed to me that, while at the same time being defender of the faith, you can also be protector of faiths.”Britain’s acceptance of Kairos II’s premise could also undermine the legitimacy of the U.K.’s control in other territories besides the Falklands. On Monday, the Caricom Reparations Commission — which seeks reparations for colonialism across the Caribbean — urged the king to pledge to withdraw from “the most colonized part of the world.”Caricom called on the U.K. to surrender the British Virgin Islands to the people who live there. In a briefing at London, the ambassador to the commission from Barbados, David Comissiong, said “decolonisation has been inserted into this new manifesto … as a key demand.”There are “so many falsehoods” in Kairos II, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said. The same can be said of Argentina’s designs on the Falkland Islands. The comparison may help the king make a case for defending Israel, setting the record straight for the original inhabitants of both territories.

Charles III, by Citing the Falklands, Could Rebuke Anglican Condemnation of ‘Colonial’ Israel

Charles III, by Citing the Falklands, Could Rebuke Anglican Condemnation of ‘Colonial’ Israel

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