Israel and Palestine

Lord McInnes of Kilwinning Excerpts

Tuesday 7th March 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord McInnes of Kilwinning (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries, for bringing this important debate before your Lordships’ House. I refer to my entry in the register of interests as I recently joined a field trip with Medical Aid for Palestinians in the West Bank during the February Recess, and to previous entries where I joined similar trips with Conservative Friends of Israel.

In the two minutes that I was originally allowed, I wanted to focus very much on our responsibility as an honest, and sometimes critical, friend to Israel. That is not in any way to distance myself from the remarks that the noble Lord, Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, has just made about the failures of the Palestinian Authority, which I endorse. I am a friend of Israel who wants the UK to continue its strong relations with that country, and who absolutely supports its right to exist and its continuing security. As we have already heard, we must never forget the memory within Israel of the obsession of some with removing it from the map.

I have often spoken in those terms in this House before, and my shared Scottish kinship with Lord Balfour makes me reflect very much on the creation of the Israeli state. However, as a friendly nation and ally, it is incumbent upon us, not least because of our historical responsibility, to use our influence to ensure that the Israel that we support is upholding its international obligations, and it is those on which I wish to dwell today.

We must support any talks and communication that try to stop the spiralling acts of violence that we have already seen this year and the rising tension within Israel and the Occupied Territories. However, I ask the Minister that we continue to raise in our discussions with Israel—as part of our commitment to international law, to Articles 55, 56 and 59 of the Geneva convention and to the Oslo accords—our opposition to the building of illegal settlements; our commitment to ensuring that the Palestinian people in areas B and C of the Occupied Territories have full access to education and health services; importantly, that we follow international law; and, as we witnessed did not happen in Huwara, that the IDF is fully empowered, and has the responsibility, to protect all civilians from violent attack or disruption.

It is important as well that we question and seek legal advice as a Government on the recent transfer of responsibilities for settlers from military jurisdiction to Israeli civilian responsibility. How does that square with our own opposition to the annexation of the West Bank in terms of responsibility for those settlements?

To be secure as well as to carry international support, Israel requires critical friends. Can the Minister confirm that we will continue to be one such friend?