Labour faces first internal pressure to shift policy on Israel

The first internal pressure on the Labour government to shift policy on Israel came on Tuesday when Labour Friends of Israel endorsed the UK restoring funding to the UN’s Palestinian relief agency Unrwa and separately a group of Labour MPs announced they are tabling an amendment to the King’s speech calling for funding to be restored.

In the amendment the MPs also call for an end to arms sales to Israel, and a commitment that Labour will drop the previous government’s legal challenge to the right of the international criminal court prosecutor to seek an arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

So far the foreign secretary, David Lammy, has held back from any big changes in policy to Israel and met Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel where he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages.

Labour Friends of Israel, in a briefing to MPs, say “in the short term the humanitarian situation in Gaza means the UK government should restore funding to Unrwa”, but says this funding should be tied to more stringent vetting of staff, a transparent employee register and an overhaul of educational materials. The conditions are largely in line with recommendations made in a report by the former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, that Unrwa has already accepted.

The Labour Friends of Israel briefing also suggests Unrwa should have a transitory role and its functions should be transferred to a revitalised Palestinian Authority.

The UK is the only country apart from the US not to restore funding that was withdrawn after Israel produced evidence that up to a dozen Unrwa staff were involved in the Oct 7 massacre. An internal UN investigation has still not resolved all the cases.

The amendment to the King’s speech has been tabled by Zarah Sultana, the Labour MP for Coventry South, and calls on the Commons to work to uphold international law in Israel and Palestine, noting the widespread recognition of serious violations of international law in the conflict, including the finding by the international court of justice that Israel’s assault is plausibly in breach of the Genocide Convention. The amendment also calls for the UK to suspend arms sales to Israel immediately recalling that previous UK governments have done so including ones led by Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Sources claim it is unlikely that the Sultana amendment will be called for a vote at the end of the King’s speech debate next week, but the move is seen as a shot across the bows of the government, and a potential moment to test the cross-party support Sultana can gather.

In seats with large Muslim populations at the general election, Labour saw a swing away from Keir Starmer in the order of 20%, and since then the killings have continued in Gaza, as well as multiple allegations of human rights offences including a refusal to give the International Red Cross access to Palestinian prisoners.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, said she was deeply concerned by reports that the UK will not drop the previous Conservative government’s legal challenge to the ICC’s jurisdiction in Gaza. The ICC has given the UK a further fortnight to decide.

In a statement she accused Britain of seeking to derail and delay justice for Palestinians, aggravating the UK’s responsibility in the crisis.

She pointed out in 2019, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber concluded that the court has jurisdiction over Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – a decision that had not been disputed by Rome Statute state-parties.

Labour sources have said it remains party policy that the ICC has jurisdiction.