Labour has issued its most direct criticism of the Israeli government since the Hamas attacks on 7 October, criticising the remarks of rightwing Israeli ministers over the West Bank and saying they have been responsible for “unacceptable and offensive rhetoric about Palestinians”.
In a letter to the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, that puts policy daylight between the government and Labour on the crisis in the Middle East, David Lammy demanded to know what had been done to press the Israelis to curb the violence in the West Bank by settlers and government forces.
The shadow foreign secretary urged the UK government to tell Israel to reverse its plans to reduce funding to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority that administers the West Bank. He also called for settlers deemed to be inciting hatred or acting unlawfully to be banned from entry to the UK.
The Labour frontbench has faced sharp internal criticism for failing to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The letter does not change that stance, but it does mark the end of the bipartisan unalloyed support for Israel on display since the Hamas attacks on 7 October.
Describing those attacks as “appalling”, Lammy then cited the Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din’s claim that since 7 October “Israeli security forces and settlers have killed at least 144 Palestinians in the West Bank and more than 900 adults and children have been forcibly driven from their homes following extremist settler violence”.
He said: “There has been a troubling rise in dangerous and extremist rhetoric among far-right politicians. There have also been attacks on Israelis, including a man shot and killed while driving on 2 November, as well as a number of planned terror attacks that have reportedly been foiled.”
By the end of September this year 184 Palestinians and 26 Israelis had been killed in the West Bank, higher than any annual total since the UN began recording statistics in 2005, Lammy said. In addition, 769 Palestinians had been injured by live ammunition, and 812 structures had been demolished, according to the UN.
Lammy said that since 7 October, “there has been an increase in recordings of instances of settler violence, threats, and intimidation against Palestinian communities – with homes vandalised, water supplies cut, livestock stolen and civilians threatened at gunpoint”.
“In conflicts like this, the most painful blows are those that land on the bruises of history. And for Palestinians, forced displacement echoes the most traumatic moments in their past. As the occupying power, Israel has obligations under international law that it must uphold.”
Lammy said he was “acutely concerned by the announcement by Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, to withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority. This risks weakening the PA and destabilising the West Bank at the worst possible time. Mr Smotrich and minister for national security Itamar Ben-Gvir have also been responsible for unacceptable and offensive rhetoric about Palestinians.”
“The Palestinian Authority,” he argued, “plays an essential role in the West Bank, is an important partner for the UK, and is essential to any long-term negotiations towards a political settlement and a two-state solution.”
Those threatening a two-state solution had to be robustly challenged if support for such a solution was “to be regarded as substantive rather than rhetorical”, Lammy said.
He went on to set out a series of questions, including asking the UK government to demand that “Israeli authorities take actions to prevent settler violence, ensure accountability for perpetrators, and condemn extremist rhetoric”.
He also asked Cleverly whether he had urged the Israeli government to reverse Smotrich’s decision to withhold essential funding to the Palestinian Authority, and urged the foreign secretary to reveal in what way he had worked with Jordan to build a strengthened and reformed Palestinian Authority as a route to stabilising the West Bank.
He also asked ministers to announce whether they would impose UK entry bans on any settlers who had been identified as being involved in “serious criminal activity or in fostering hatred”.
