How the UK’s approach to Israel has changed under Labour
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy with Palestine Authority PM Mohammad Mustafa on 14 July 2024
Imran Mulla writes in Middle East Eye on 23 July 2024
David Lammy, the UK’s new foreign secretary, appears to have significantly changed his approach to Israel since Labour entered government.
When Lammy announced last week that the UK would restore funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), it seemed to signal that he had torn up the script on the country’s policy on Israel. The move brings the UK in line with countries like Germany, Australia, Canada, Sweden and Japan, which restored funding after initially suspending it over unproven Israeli accusations of Unrwa staff links to Hamas.
Lammy’s move represented a significant change in policy from the previous Conservative government. It was not promised in the party’s election manifesto. Nor had Lammy called for UNRWA funding to be restored while Labour was in opposition and he was shadow foreign secretary.
A change in tone
But on other policies relating to Israel, Lammy has changed his tone and approach since Labour entered government.
These policies include arms sales to Israel, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and a Palestinian state. Lammy, as shadow foreign secretary, had repeatedly called on the government to publish the legal advice it had received on selling arms to Israel.
In April, he wrote in a letter to his predecessor David Cameron that “there is extensive plausible evidence that the threshold for suspending arms licences has been crossed”, and accused his opposite number of “hiding from scrutiny”. “Labour’s message to the government is equally clear. Publish the legal advice now,” Lammy said in a public statement. “If it says there is a clear risk that UK arms might be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law, it’s time to suspend the sale of those arms.”
But almost three weeks into the Labour government, Lammy is yet to publish that legal advice. Asked about it in parliament last week, the new foreign secretary said: “This is a quasi-legal process and it’s important that I follow the actions in the appropriate way, with all probity and all integrity so I would consider those assessments when they’re made available to me.” “I instigated a process on the first day in office,” he added. “I hope to be able to make my views known with full accountability and transparency.” This is a considerable change in approach from before the election.