King’s Speech

Lord Leigh of Hurley Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Leigh of Hurley (Con)]

My Lords, shortly before the fateful day of 7 October, I had just read Jonathan Freedland’s book The Escape Artist about the one person who managed to escape successfully from Auschwitz, and I had just started the outstanding book by my noble friend Lord Finkelstein entitled Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad. Both works tell remarkable stories about a minuscule number of exceptionally brave and strong people who managed to escape the horrors of the Holocaust physically, if not mentally. Of course, 6 million Jews did not survive, and the Jewish people swore: never again. Nearly all the world, and certainly the western world, agreed that the Jewish people should be granted the right to live in a very small part of the land that some of them had called home for some 2,000 years.

The history is relevant—I speak in front of eminent historians—to the recurrent war in the Middle East in order to understand that Israel is not prepared to take any chances against a group that declares it wants to exterminate its citizens. Those who chant “From the river to the sea”, as they are doing right now outside our House, should know that every time they chant that particular chant they stiffen the resolve of the Jewish people to ensure that the wish that that chant expresses of wiping out the Jewish state will not be allowed to take place, whatever the cost. While many who marched last weekend did so with a simplistic desire to stop pain and suffering, it is clear, as video clips testified, that some did not, calling for “Death to the Jews” and “Hitler was right”.

The conflict is most unlikely to end with a ceasefire as Hamas has made clear, through the likes of Khalil al-Hayya, that the goal of the war was not to improve life in Gaza for its inhabitants but to turn the state of war with Israel into a permanent one. Iran wants borderless open war against Israel to annihilate Israel. It may actually be that Hamas launched its atrocities against Israel without Iran’s support, as Iran would rather have waited until such time as it became a nuclear state. That is probably the only reason that Iran and Hezbollah have not joined in the war. If they had waited, it is almost certain that Iran would then have insisted on a global dimension against Jews in North and South America, Europe and, of course, here in the UK. So it was reassuring to hear in the King’s Speech that steps are going to be taken to counter anti-Semitism in this country. We will need them.

The existential threat that Israel faces requires it to eliminate Hamas as best it can. Of course, warfare cannot defeat an ideology, but it can neutralise it, if only for a while, and it can certainly neutralise its ability to commit the genocide that it seeks. So the heart-breaking pictures of innocents in Gaza killed because Hamas used them as human shields will haunt us, but we must remember that the IDF is recognised by British military experts as one of the most humane armies in the world. Every single attack is carefully considered and warnings, even as localised as specific telephone calls, mark them out as undertaking a campaign unlike any other ever undertaken anywhere in the world’s history, to try to mitigate civilian casualties.

It is now clear that Hamas stores weapons in tunnels right underneath Gaza’s al-Rantisi hospital and others—in tunnels most probably built in part by aid given to Gaza in good faith by countries such as our own and stolen by Hamas for its leaders’ benefit. I am of course pleased to see that we have offered a further £30 million of humanitarian aid, but can we be sure that that is not going to buy fuel to fire rockets and subsidise luxury living in Qatar?

I am afraid I do not believe that the two-state solution will happen in our lifetime. Rather, a more innovative structure may be required whereby Palestinians have control over nearly all aspects of their lives, but not security or defence—rather like in this country, where the devolved nations do not have their own military. Apart from my other relevant interests in the register, as your Lordships will recall, I am chairman of the Jerusalem Foundation in the UK. As such, I talk to residents of East Jerusalem, and many there want to be part of the Israeli state. They want the healthcare and the benefits, and they want the vote.

It is premature to plan for two states, but there are practical steps that His Majesty’s Government can take. First, we should be offering help to both sides. We are rightly offering humanitarian help to Gazan citizens. British military personnel have outstanding skills in medical rehab for combat casualties, as I saw for myself at a Royal Marines fundraiser that I was honoured to attend last week. They are ready and able to assist Israeli soldiers injured in combat. Will my noble friend Lord Minto respond to this request?

Secondly, we need to be at the centre of the plan to rebuild Gaza. We should be talking to the Arab countries —and others who are understandably and correctly expressing sympathy for those Palestinians who are caught up in this conflict—about a reconstruction fund of some $100 billion, ideally with grants available to every citizen of Gaza to rebuild their lives, free from Hamas and Iran. Israel has created a booming economy next door to Gaza, and it can be done in Gaza under a different leadership.

Finally, the news that this House will soon have the future Lord Cameron as a Minister, and now has my noble friend Lord Roberts on our Benches, is one of the very few pieces of good news that we have had in the last month. I for one am really pleased to be welcoming him to your Lordships’ House to address the very difficult times we face ahead.