King’s Speech

Lord Pannick Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Pannick (CB)]

My Lords, the gracious Speech said that His Majesty’s Government

“will continue to pursue foreign policy based on a calm assessment of the national interest”.

I hope that the Minister, when he calmly sums up this debate, will confirm that our national interest includes giving support to the State of Israel, however strong our criticisms may be of some—perhaps many—of the policies of the Netanyahu Government, and that it is in our national interest to oppose all those who seek to destroy the State of Israel.

On Tuesday evening, I attended the opening of an exhibition in London which bears witness to the massacre of young people enjoying the Nova music festival in southern Israel on 7 October 2023. On that occasion, 6,000 young people came to dance but, at 6.19 am, the festival was overrun by pure hatred. Hamas supporters raped, tortured, murdered and mutilated hundreds of people. One of those murdered was a British citizen, 26 year-old Jake Marlowe from north London.

Anyone who thinks that it is progressive for so-called freedom fighters to rape and murder partygoers, and anyone who doubts the atrocities committed that day, should attend that exhibition in Shoreditch—I hope all Members of the House will do so—if only for five minutes. Almost as painful as the reminder of the appalling events which occurred that day is the fact that in London—I emphasise: in London—in 2026, a massive police presence is required to protect the exhibition and those attending from attack by antisemites.

I focus on the Nova festival because it is a symbol of the true values which Israel shares with this country, and of the fragile nature of those values. In Israel, people of all ages and backgrounds, and of any sexual orientation, attend and enjoy cultural events without discrimination. People in Israel read uncensored newspapers; they can freely discuss whatever they like, without state interference. They can vote for the politicians who govern them. Their disputes are determined by independent judges under the rule of law. They benefit, as do people around the world, from astonishing scientific and technological developments in cancer treatment, telecommunications, defence industries and so many other disciplines. These are values of liberty, diversity and scholarship which we find in very few other countries in this world, and in no other country in the neighbourhood where Israel exists.

Sadly, we have to acknowledge that Israel currently has leaders and policies with which we strongly disagree—I strongly disagree—such as the Netanyahu Government’s toleration, indeed encouragement, of violent conduct by settlers in the West Bank in their treatment of Palestinians, which is shameful; the reprehensible statements by some Ministers in the Netanyahu Government; and the failure of that Government to accept that, as the gracious Speech said, we must all work harder towards securing a two-state solution. But when we criticise those aspects of Israeli government policy, and we are right to do so, we should bear in mind that many Israelis share and express the same concerns.

Debate is necessary, but what is unacceptable is that there is a state, Iran, whose primary objective is to destroy Israel, which seeks to develop nuclear weapons to implement that objective and which funds organisations, including Hamas and Hezbollah, whose raison d’être is the pursuit of that goal. There are many misguided individuals who are prepared to carry out attacks in this and other countries against anyone they perceive to be a supporter of Israel, by which they mean Jews, and there are all too many others who shrug their shoulders or look the other way. So I ask this Government to recognise the values that we share with the State of Israel—whatever our criticisms, and rightly so, of some of its policies—and not to forget Jake Marlowe and all the other victims of the Nova festival massacre.