What did the candidates say about the Israeli war against Gaza?

On July 4, millions of people across the UK will cast their votes in the general election. But for many of them, one issue in particular will influence their voting decision.

For many people in Britain, Israel’s war on Gaza is a central issue, even taking precedence over domestic affairs, as the war that began last October continues to dominate the headlines and the death toll continues to rise.

In Israel’s war against the besieged enclave, more than 37,551 Palestinians have been killed and another 85,600 injured since October.

Important topics of discussion included Britain’s role in the conflict, British arms deliveries to Israel and how to deal with demonstrators calling for a ceasefire.

Politicians from both major parties have expressed support for Israel during the war, which could cost them electoral votes, particularly in Britain’s Muslim communities.

Here, The new Arab examines what some key figures from different parties have said about the war in Gaza.

Conservative government

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has repeatedly reiterated his support for Israel, saying that Israel has a “right to defend its security.”

Since the Hamas-led attack that killed over 1,170 Israelis last October, the Tory leader has continued to highlight the impact on Israel.

Last April, six months after the attack, Sunak said: “Israeli wounds have not yet healed” and “families are still grieving and Hamas is still holding hostages.”

However, he also called for a “humanitarian pause” and said civilians in the Gaza Strip continued to suffer and there was “hunger, despair and loss of life on a horrific scale”.

Sunak said Britain had made significant efforts to get aid to the enclave. “The whole of Britain is shocked by the bloodshed and appalled by the killing of brave British heroes who brought food to those in need” after an Israeli attack killed British aid workers from the non-governmental organisation World Central Kitchen.

But in line with the British government’s pro-Israel stance, Foreign Minister David Cameron called for BBC began by labelling Hamas a “terrorist” organisation and declared that Britain would not stop supplying arms to Israel if it invaded Rafah.

In December, former Tory cabinet minister Robert Jenrick said it was “not helpful” to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and that Israel must be given the opportunity to “finish its job” by releasing prisoners and protecting Israeli security.

Workers’ Party

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer sparked strong reactions when he initially refused to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after the war broke out.

In October, Starmer supported the government in its rejection of a ceasefire agreement, telling delegates at Chatham House in London that he did not believe a ceasefire was the right decision at the time.

He also said LBC that “Israel has the right to do everything in its power” to release the prisoners and that “Israel has the right” to deny electricity and water to the Palestinian civilian population.

Since then, however, he has called for a ceasefire and more humanitarian aid for Gaza, as well as the release of Israeli prisoners held in the enclave.

When asked in an interview last week whether he would recognise Palestine as a state, he said a two-state solution depended on Israel being “safe and secure” and a “viable” Palestinian state providing that. He added that if Labour won the election it would play its full role in resolving the issue.

In the interview, Starmer refused to call the war in Gaza a “genocide” and did not provide further details about what role the party would play in the peace talks.

The party’s manifesto promises to work for the recognition of Palestine as a state, following recent action by other Western European countries.

David Lammy, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, also called for the return of Israeli prisoners to their homeland and condemned the “unbearable deaths and destruction” caused by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

Lammy, however, blamed Hamas, not Israel, for the continuation of the war, saying: “It was Hamas, not Israel, that rejected the last internationally brokered ceasefire agreement. Now a new offer is on the table and Hamas now has the power to stop the fighting.”

He also caused outrage by saying that the late South African President Nelson Mandela did not agree with the ongoing Gaza protests on university campuses across the United States.

“There is a difference between peaceful protests, as Mandela would have advocated, and violence and riots,” he said.

Wes Streeting, a Labour MP for Ilford North, has been in the spotlight in recent months because of his stance and track record on Israel.

Accordingly Approved, Pro-Israel lobbyists have spent around £30,000 on streeting. In 2022, Streeing became the first member of Starmer’s shadow cabinet to visit Israel on a trip funded by Labour Friends of Israel (LFI).

He also described the International Court of Justice (ICJ) proceedings against Israel as a “distraction”.

Green Party

The two leaders of the Green Party, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, called for a “complete bilateral ceasefire” and the suspension of arms exports to Israel.

Because of its support for the Palestinians in Gaza, the party has become a more attractive alternative in recent months for people who normally vote Labour.

The party also supports the measures called for by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In their election manifesto, MPs promise to work for an end to the “illegal occupation of Palestinian land.” The party also criticised the Tories and the Labour Party for not taking more forceful action in the Gaza war.

“We think the British government – the current government and the incoming government – must take seriously its responsibilities on the international stage and press Israel to ensure that it acts within the framework of international law,” Denyer said. Politico in May.

Zack Polanski, the party’s vice chairman, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire, saying on the X show, “We must be clear about the conflation of legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and anti-Semitism,” in response to accusations of “anti-Semitism” in the party.

In October, Adam Pugh, the Green Party candidate for Deptford and Lewisham North, said on X: “There is no peace without freedom, resist,” and also posted a photo of the Palestinian flag with the caption: “You don’t have to be neutral when it comes to apartheid, colonization and genocide.”

Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey called for an “immediate bilateral ceasefire” and the release of prisoners held in Gaza.

Layla Moran, spokeswoman for foreign affairs and international development, who is of Palestinian descent, continues to criticize Israel’s war on Gaza.

Moran, whose family members have been affected by the war, said her family, which managed to escape Gaza, was “exhausted and traumatized.”

“When will the United Kingdom finally live up to its historic obligations to the region and recognise Palestine as the first step towards the creation of two states, which is the only way to guarantee the dignity and security that all Palestinians and Israelis deserve,” she told Parliament last December.

“The British government should support an immediate bilateral ceasefire to create space for this political solution,” she added.

Cheney Payne, a Liberal Democrat councillor in Cambridge, said one of the most frequently asked questions she was asked as a candidate for Parliament was her views on Gaza.

She said she supported a motion condemning the Hamas attack, calling for an immediate ceasefire and examining the consequences of stopping banking with Barclays because the bank invests in and provides financial services to companies that supply weapons to Israel.

Reform Great Britain

The leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, has used the war in Gaza to express his concern about the immigration of Muslim immigrants to Britain.

“I am concerned about a group of people coming into the country with whom we not only have nothing in common, but who support an organization that – in our view – is a banned terrorist group,” he said in an interview with UK news.

In another interview with the platform, he also suggested that there was growing prejudice against Israel.

Richard Tice, the party’s chairman and former foreign affairs spokesman, said in a Facebook post in April: “Israel has an absolute right to defend itself against attack and the UK must firmly support that right.”

According to the GuardianThe party is increasingly focused on banning pro-Palestinian protests and calling for a unified British culture and politics that would “ban” Sharia law.