03/12/12

What happened: Prime Minister Starmer yesterday laid out the UK government’s views on Israel and the wider region.

• In a speech at Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) calling for a “better future for the next generation,” Starmer reiterated the position of the government on Israel and the wider region. He called for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, the return of the hostages and a two-state solution emphasising that there “is no place for Hamas.” Starmer voiced his support for the expansion of the Abraham Accords, criticised BDS, and described violence by pro-Palestinian protesters as antisemitism. 
• Starmer announced that the foreign secretary will convene an inaugural meeting of international partners to discuss support for civil society in the region. This concerns LFI’s longstanding campaign for an ‘International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.’
• Starmer vowed not to turn a “blind eye as Iran seeks to destabilise the Middle East.” “We have imposed tough sanctions on the IRGC and we unreservedly condemn Iran’s attacks,” he said. He described the Islamic Republic as “a country which is repressing its own citizens, coordinating proxy armies and terrorist groups, intimidating the region with the veiled menace of its nuclear programme, and even seeking to incite violence and extremism here in the UK.”
• Starmer also said: “Make no mistake – Iran is a state sponsor of terror. Whether that’s through their funding, training, and support for Hamas –making the October 7 attack possible. Or the Houthis who have attacked Israel and caused chaos to international shipping or for Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
• The PM said that the UK “respect the independence of the ICC. We are signatories to the Rome Statute.” He added that he would “never accept any equivalence between Israel – a democracy, and Hamas – a terrorist organisation.”
• Starmer reiterated the UK government’s support for the return of the hostages, “There is no ceasefire worthy of the name, which does not, as item number one include the return of all the hostages.”  
• Starmer also said violence from pro-Palestinian protesters is antisemitism: “Violence, harassment, and intimidation of British Jews on our streets – and online. Let me be clear – that behaviour is not – and can never be called – pro-Palestinian…Let’s call it what it is – it is antisemitism, through and through.”
• The PM also criticised settler extremism and violence, saying expansionism in the West Bank will “not help Israel’s position.” 
• On the rebuilding of Palestine, Starmer said that “there is no place for Hamas”, and that Israel cannot have a safe future without a “viable Palestinian state.” He added that “antisemitic incitement in Palestinian media, violence against Jews and glorifying terrorism in schools, will only weaken Palestinian security in the long term.”
• Also speaking at the lunch, Ambassador Hotovely pushed for tougher action against Iran. She also said that Israel would “never forget the moment when in April, Royal Air Force fighter pilots took action to defend Israel from attack by Iran: the world’s oldest democracy standing by the Middle East’s only democracy.”
• LFI Chair Jon Pearce MP also addressed the lunch saying: “this wasn’t a war of Israel’s choice or making. It was a war inflicted on Israelis and Palestinians by Iran and its proxies. They launched this war for one reason: to murder as many Jews as possible to further their mission to wipe Israel from the map. From that clarity must come action. Israel is on the frontline of a wider battle: one between democracy and autocracy. This isn’t just Israel’s fight: it is ours too.”
• Mandy Damari, the mother of Emily, the only remaining British hostage, also addressed the lunch. She said the fact that the UK’s vote at the UN in November for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza wasn’t tied to the release of hostages “broke her heart.”
• After her speech on the importance of bringing Emily home to safety, Mandy Damari called for action from the Prime Minister, saying: “From the United Nations and the Red Cross to the Qatari Government, I have been calling for Humanitarian Aid to be delivered immediately to all the hostages. Today I asked Keir Starmer and the British government to lead this effort on the international stage, to secure urgent medical visits to Emily and the other 100 hostages, before it is too late and to keep them all alive, while the campaign to bring them home continues.”

Context: This is the first speech Starmer has made to LFI supporters since he became Prime Minister.

• Over 100 parliamentarians, including cabinet ministers Peter Kyle, David Lammy, Pat McFadden, Lucy Powell, Steve Reed, Ellie Reeves, Rachel Reeves, and Jonathan Reynolds attended the lunch and speech.
• While his speech referred to previous Labour governments proscribing Hamas, Hezbollah and the PIJ, it did not mention proscribing Iran’s IRGC.
• In April, after Iran fired over 300 missiles and drones towards Israel, the UK sanctioned a further 7 individuals and 6 entities who it said “have enabled Iran to conduct destabilising regional activity, including its direct attack on Israel.” It followed a decision in January 2024, in which the UK imposed sanctions on individual members of the IRGC’s Unit 840 over plots to assassinate two television presenters from the news channel Iran International on British soil.
• The government said at the time that the plot was “just the latest credible reporting of the regime’s attempt to intimidate or kill British nationals or UK-linked individuals, with at least 15 such threats taking place since January 2022.”
• It remains to be seen if the government will proscribe the IRGC. Before he became Defence Secretary, John Healey was supportive, arguing that proscribing the IRGC was “the leading edge of the threat that Iran poses not just to Israel, but to Arab countries and western interests right across the region. It’s the way that the Iranians sponsor and support violent military militia groups that destabilise the region and threaten other countries as well.”
• Last week ex-British Army signaller, Daniel Khalife, was found guilty of spying for Iran. While the information Khalife was passing to Iran was largely trivial – with some having been faked – it nevertheless indicates Iran’s intentions towards the UK and serves as evidence of the espionage they are conducting in the country.
• In November 2022, the head of MI5 Ken McCallum publicly revealed that foiling Iranian assassination attempts had formed much of the security services’ work in the past year. “Iran projects a threat to the UK directly, through its aggressive intelligence services”, said McCallum. “At its sharpest this includes ambitions to kidnap or even kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime. We have seen at least ten such potential threats since January alone.” 
• The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has also reported Iranian attacks on British infrastructure.

Looking ahead: The UK government’s position on the ICC arrest warrants – and whether they would support the arrest of Prime Minister Netanyahu if he stood on British soil – remains to be clarified.

• Mandy Damari will be speaking directly with press for the first time in London this Thursday.  She will also be meeting the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Jassim Al Thanias, as part of his forthcoming state visit to the UK.