Israel/Gaza

Lord Pannick Excerpts

Tuesday 24th October 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Pannick (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister, the Government, the Labour Front Bench, the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury and so many noble Lords for the sympathy and support shown to Israel during the very difficult times of the past two and a half weeks, and for the condemnation expressed for the growing anti-Semitism in this country. It is a great comfort and reassurance to the Jewish community, and very much appreciated.

I declare my interests. My wife is Israeli. We have a home in Israel; the Minister has been our guest. We know families who have been bereaved by the terrible actions of 7 October. My friends in Israel have children and grandchildren who have paused their university careers, occupations and family life to join the armed forces to defend their country. They would all much prefer to live in peace with their neighbours, but certain basic truths explain why these reasonable, decent people are supporting military action at this time.

The first is obvious, but it needs to be said. Hamas seeks the destruction of the State of Israel and all Jews living there; its charter proclaims these goals. The shocking events of 7 October demonstrate that this is not just a theory. Hamas is willing to implement its aims by the murder, torture and abduction of Jews, however young or old, religious or secular and whatever their political views. Worse, Hamas is supported by a powerful state, Iran, which has regularly announced the same aim of destroying Israel. Tragically, we know from recent European history—two decades before I was born in 1956—that, when states or groups announce that they are going to murder Jews and remove them from the face of the earth, they need to be stopped.

The second basic truth follows from the first. Because Hamas and its supporters seek the destruction of Israel and the murder of all Jews who stand in the way, Hamas has no interest in a political settlement. It has no wish to negotiate a two-state solution. The only solution in which Hamas is interested is what the Nazis called a final solution. It is naive in the extreme to think that it would make the slightest difference to the conduct of Hamas if only the Israeli Government were to alter their policies. I oppose many of these, as, more significantly, does a large proportion of the Israeli population. Earlier this week, President Herzog of Israel, a very wise man, said that you cannot make peace with a neighbour who wants to chop off your children’s heads.

The third basic fact is that a state that faces such threats to its existence is entitled to defend itself. No other state in the world would tolerate or be expected to tolerate such a threat at its border. International law clearly permits Israel to remove the ability of Hamas to fire missiles at its population and the threat of further incursions to torture, kill and abduct people.

The fourth basic truth is that Israel faces profound strategic as well as moral dilemmas. There are no easy answers when Hamas is embedded in a civilian population, has a network of tunnels and is holding more than 200 hostages. The noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, referred to a letter in the Financial Times last week from some lawyers. In a letter in the Times last Friday, I said with my noble friend Lord Macdonald of River Glaven that it is very easy for those lawyers to pronounce on international law from the safety of their chambers in the Temple without regard to the threat that Israel faces and the problems in removing it.

A fifth and final basic truth is that Israelis know and deeply regret that the civilian population of Gaza are suffering. Tragically—and it is a tragedy—war in Gaza is causing and will cause immense suffering and death to innocent people. War always does. Israel must do and is doing all it can to minimise civilian deaths—a difficult task when Hamas embeds itself in schools, hospitals and mosques. We should be in no doubt who is responsible for this appalling situation: Hamas and all who support its perverted ideology. This includes those who shamefully celebrate on the streets of London when Israeli civilians are tortured, murdered and abducted.

In his very thoughtful opening remarks, the Minister emphasised the virtues of open debate on difficult issues. One of the tragedies of Gaza is that anyone who expresses the view that their Government should stop spending money on missiles and tunnels and focus on industry, health and education would be speedily tortured and murdered.