Israel and Palestine

Lord Mohammed of Tinsley Excerpts

Wednesday 9th September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)]

Absolutely not. There is and must be no connection between the actions of the Israeli Government and any attribution of responsibility to British Jews. That is a connection that we totally deny. The new Prime Minister has shown his commitment. The reason why this investment needs to be provided is because there has been, over time, a shocking rise in antisemitic incidents. Everyone can see it. Just last week we commemorated the upcoming anniversary of the appalling Heaton Park attack. That was followed by antisemitic attacks in Golders Green, including on the Hatzola ambulances. Antisemitic incidents are, shockingly, on the rise, not just here but across countries. That is why we will provide over £300 million, in fact, over three years to protect Jewish communities and tackle antisemitism. That is why the Foreign Secretary is meeting the J7, the group of countries with the largest Jewish populations, in October. It is a priority for the new Prime Minister; he has made that clear already. That commitment will remain absolute, and I hope it enjoys cross-party support.

[Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (LD)]

My Lords, I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s Statement. Ever since Mr Rabin’s tragic death in the mid-1990s, the Palestinians have been strung along with the hope of an independent state, and people such as Mr Netanyahu have done everything possible to hinder it. This E1 is the final straw that will break the camel’s back. I also welcome the Foreign Secretary’s comments around our extension of the global human rights sanctions regime, which has enabled us to target those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law, whether in Gaza or elsewhere. Will that be extended to Mr Netanyahu or Mr Gallant, for whom there are already arrest warrants, or to those individual soldiers seen on various videos committing crimes against humanity, whether in the Gaza Strip or in the West Bank, where settlers and the police are colluding to target and shoot dead innocent Palestinians?

[Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for those questions. He is absolutely right that the cause of the overwhelming majority of decent Palestinians has been neglected for too long. I hope this starts to correct some of that. On global human rights reforms, we are beefing up the existing regime—by the way, this is a universal regime rather than targeted on specific countries—to include not just those who abuse human rights but those who violate international humanitarian law in Palestine and throughout the world. That does not stop us using existing global human rights regimes to target individual settlers. That is why five individuals were targeted yesterday.