Netanyahu is a disaster – pressuring Hamas is the way to get rid of him
4 min read
Keir Starmer is right to describe the humanitarian situation in Gaza as intolerable.
Far too many innocent Gazans have died since the conflict began. After 11 weeks without any aid entering the territory following the collapse of the January ceasefire, Gazans are facing crippling food and medical shortages. The Israeli hostages captured by Hamas during the 7 October 2023 invasion of Israel have now been held captive in inhumane conditions for an agonising 600 days.
While Hamas instigated this war, the right-wing government of Binyamin Netanyahu also bears responsibility for the failure to reach a permanent ceasefire. The Netanyahu government has been a disaster – for Israel, the Palestinians and the prospects of a groundbreaking wider regional peace agreement. It is time for the Israeli prime minister and his administration to go.
The voices of the Israeli people, the hostage families and the opposition have all too often been overlooked in the debate in the UK.
We should seek to bolster and embolden all those in Israel desperate for change
Ever since the horrific events of 7 October 2023, polls have consistently shown a clear majority of Israelis want Netanyahu to resign. They have also repeatedly indicated that, were elections to be held today, the governing coalition would lose its Knesset majority.
Israelis know their country needs a change of leadership and a change of direction. In Israel last month, I was able to meet with opposition leaders, such as Yair Lapid and Yair Golan, who offer this much-needed alternative.
Like a majority of Israelis, they oppose Netanyahu’s expansion of the military campaign in Gaza. Instead, they want to see a ceasefire deal which forces Hamas to release the hostages. The only way to defeat Hamas and its extremist, antisemitic ideology is through a better alternative, as demonstrated by anti-Hamas protests in Gaza. However, the Netanyahu government’s refusal to contemplate future governance arrangements in Gaza is perpetuating a political vacuum that creates the conditions for Hamas’ survival.
Israelis also want to see a wider regional peace deal – one which, building on the success of the Abraham Accords, leads to a normalisation agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia; the forging of a security alliance to contain Iran’s malign influence; and a path to Palestinian statehood. Polling shows that Israelis will accept a Palestinian state as part of a package tied to normalisation.
So, how should Britain help advance the interests of the Palestinian and Israeli people?
First, at all times our government should work to strengthen the forces of moderation in Israel and Palestine, while sanctioning the enemies of peace. Any measures we take should be tightly targeted and balanced. That’s why the government is right to continue sanctioning far-right settlers who seek to wreak havoc and violence in the West Bank – and it’s why it should also sanction those Palestinians in the West Bank who incite violence against Israelis.
The UK is right to call out Netanyahu’s actions which are so damaging to Israel and the Palestinians. But we should do so in a manner which will also resonate with the Israeli public, including by recognising Hamas’ responsibility for starting this tragic conflict and its role in perpetuating it by refusing to release the hostages and relinquish power.
Second, it should seek to advance the goal of Palestinian statehood through concrete measures to expand and deepen the Abraham Accords. Past negotiations toward a final status agreement foundered in part because they excluded the wider region. The political stability, regional security and economic prosperity through normalised relations between Israel and its neighbours offers a desperately needed, optimistic alternative to continued violence.
Securing a region-wide deal is the best path to achieving Palestinian statehood and marginalising the enemies of peace, including Iran.
Finally, the government should work to strengthen grassroots constituencies for peace in Israel and Palestine through fulfilling its forward-thinking commitment to host a summit to establish an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. As we learned in Northern Ireland, a lasting peace requires supporting bottom-up civil society peacebuilders.
I understand – and share – ministers’ frustration and anger with Netanyahu’s actions. Now we should seek to bolster and embolden all those in Israel I’ve met who, like us, are desperate for change.
Jon Pearce, Labour MP for High Peak and chair of Labour Friends of Israel
