Israeli-Palestinian Peace: International Fund

Steve Yemm Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Steve Yemm (Mansfield) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the potential merits of an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian

peace.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. One of the most violent cycles of Israeli-Palestinian conflict in history, the largest since 1973, has drawn to a halt and it is now critical that we redouble our efforts to make this a lasting peace. The atrocities and massive loss of life we have seen on and since 7 October cannot happen again. We must do all we can to prevent that, and innocent civilians must be allowed to live their lives without fear.

The recent news has been packed with talk of various reconstruction plans and Government summits, but the current debate is neglected and a vital pathway to peace—that is, the involvement of Israeli and Palestinian civil society. The international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace is at its core an initiative designed to give agency to those often overlooked grassroots communities of Israel and Palestine. It plans to mobilise international investment in regional peacebuilding projects and, in doing so, will tackle unaddressed drivers of this terrible conflict. That is why the Government’s commitment to the fund has been such a groundbreaking move and why our continued support will be critical.

Political discussion about the conflict is often fixated on the short-term weather of the situation, day-to-day events and great tragedy in detail, but sometimes we neglect the climate, the long-term trends and initiatives that will bring us meaningfully closer to peace. Therefore, I want today’s debate, and my intention is, to shift our political priorities to longer term, to looking at how we can create the space in the hearts and minds of all affected communities to make peace a possibility.

Of course, how we accomplish that invites a great deal of discussion, particularly in the light of our Government’s necessary and timely commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP. In this era of more limited resources being available, we need to be especially sure that the budget we do have is going towards projects that are value for money in achieving security abroad, because security abroad means safety at home, and the British taxpayer must see those returns many times over. I invite other Members today to make the case for why the international fund could satisfy that requirement.

One great advantage of the fund is the opportunity that it presents for British leadership abroad. The Prime Minister has recently shown what Britain can look like as a leading force for good on the international stage. Seizing the initiative on civil society reconciliation in Israel and Palestine by championing the fund would be yet another demonstration of that power in a notably resource-efficient way. I hope that we have the courage to act and to keep the momentum of recent successes in the region going. As the examples of Syria and Lebanon show, political changes can occur suddenly and unexpectedly. Currently, however, these people and nations are suffering unimaginable pain and trauma. Innocent Palestinians have suffered the catastrophic loss of their loved ones, homes and livelihoods; and at the same time in Israel the images of the hostages are burned into the national consciousness, and the scars of 7 October will be felt for generations to come.

Therefore, with your permission, Mr Twigg, I ask that Members allow accounts from victims to always be heard. I personally have spoken with the families of hostages, and having witnessed such pain at first hand, I make clear my view that anyone who considers themselves to be on the side of peace should respect the testimony of innocents on both sides. This is not a zero-sum game. Reconciliation will take time, but history has told us that it is the only route to a lasting peace.

History has much to teach us in the pursuit of peace. In the 1980s and 1990s, Northern Ireland and Israel-Palestine were both global symbols of intercommunal violence, but today they look very different from each other. The enduring relief that the Good Friday agreement brought to the people of Northern Ireland has sadly not been shared in Israel and Palestine. There are many explanations for those differing outcomes that I am sure other Members will draw attention to, but I will note that although negotiations on the make-up of the middle east often began and stayed at the level of Presidents, Prime Ministers and leaders, the International Fund for Ireland ensured that as many people as possible were given a seat at the table and a stake in the future.

[Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East) (Lab/Co-op)]

My hon. Friend is talking very eloquently about history and the need for grassroots history to be reflected. Does he agree that there has been a strong history of co-operation and co-operatives in the middle east? Is he aware of the fact that the British Co-operative Group has been working hard, with the Co-operative party, on tangible measures to support peace and economic development, including the Wahat al-Salam/Neve Shalom peace village? Do we need to see more of these initiatives in the future, and can the fund be a way of achieving that?

[Steve Yemm]

I agree that co-operatives and co-operation are incredibly important with regard to this fund and that we lose sight at our peril of the value of any civil society actors, including co-operatives. We recall that the fund in Northern Ireland gave everybody a seat at the table, a say in their future. The International Fund for Ireland may well have been the great unsung hero of the peace process. We therefore have in recent memory living proof that a plan for civil society reconciliation, backed by an international fund, can succeed where high-level talks may fail.

In my opinion, no one is more fit for this task than the Labour Government. Our party has a long and storied history in peacemaking, Northern Ireland being just one example of that. Equally, I am eager that we build a consensus on the fund across the House.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

Will the hon. Member give way?

[Steve Yemm]

Very briefly, and this will be the final intervention on me, I am afraid.

[Mr Campbell]

I congratulate the hon. Member on securing the debate. I just have a word of caution for him on the comparison between the middle east and Northern Ireland. Yes, the International Fund for Ireland made a difference, but the scale of the schism in the middle east caused by 7 October and the scale of the rebuild that will be required in Gaza are such that a fund many times greater than the IFI will be needed to make any meaningful difference in the middle east.

[Steve Yemm]

I very much agree that we need to address the scale of the issue—certainly. That is why it is very important that we build consensus on this issue across the House, and I welcome contributions from Members of all parties who are genuinely interested in finding a resolution.

Democracy is one of the strongest tools that we have in the quest for peace, not just in ensuring that our Government do their part, but in giving disenfranchised people a say in their future. We saw that clearly in Ireland, where the promise that people could express their political desires and views with a ballot in their hand instead of a rifle was key to tackling violent extremism.

I have personally engaged with Israel’s democratic tradition in my recent meetings with Yair Golan, the leader of the opposition Democrats party. He is an inspiring man who has put his life on the line, and he has been a clear and consistent voice for peace and security. I also welcome Israel’s continued engagement with the UK, but democracy will not be built and maintained unless there is a strong coalition of ordinary people and communities to safeguard it. Peacebuilding is about not just summits and large state initiatives, but the day-to-day work of people on the ground doing their utmost to set the conditions for the ending of hostilities.

We know that the Government are ultimately interested in peace in the middle east and are taking a long-term view to achieve that end. We have seen momentum build among G7 countries behind an international fund. I want to be clear that that is the crux of today’s debate. This is not about politicking, theatre or gestures. I secured the debate because I am genuinely interested in finding long-term solutions and achieving the best outcomes in the light of the realities that we face. The UK has the opportunity to take action and provide leadership. I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to the fund to date and I am confident that we can build on that in the immediate future. As I draw my speech to a close, I invite Members on both sides of the House to use this opportunity to make suggestions to the Minister about how the Government and the Foreign Office might move this crucial initiative forward.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve Yemm]

I thank all hon. and right hon. Members who have contributed meaningfully in the spirit of today’s discussion, with a genuine commitment to peace at heart. Very few conflicts inspire stronger opinions and more polarised views than the ones we have discussed today, and I am pleased that so many Members have moved beyond talking points and shared their sincere views on how an international fund could improve the lives of everyone in Israel and the Palestinian territories. I hope that the Minister will meet again with MPs to discuss our future commitment to the fund. I hope that he will encourage the Foreign Secretary to raise the matter at the G7, building on the commitment made last year, with the aim of co-ordinating and institutionalising the UK Government’s support for this work.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered the potential merits of an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace.