No members of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s cabinet are expected to attend or speak at the Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) annual reception on Tuesday evening, Jewish News reported. Middle East minister Stephen Doughty is expected to be the government’s most senior representative at the event.
The reported absence follows Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s keynote speech at the Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East reception during the party conference in Liverpool. Doughty also attended that gathering, alongside Palestinian Authority ambassador Husam Zomlot.
LFI has criticized the government’s planned restrictions on trade and services connected to Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. The group urged Miliband to delay the measures until after Israel’s October 27 elections. Its vice-chair, MP Peter Prinsley, warned that the sanctions could embolden anti-Israel sentiment and increase the risk of attacks on British Jews.
Addressing the reception on Monday, Miliband told supporters of the Palestinian cause that the government had changed its approach toward Israel. “We hear you. You were right," he said, before accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing by settler terrorists," “war crimes in Gaza" and “an illegal occupation of Palestine."
Miliband said the government would ban imports from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and restrict British financial, construction and service ties to them. He also rejected suggestions that it might reverse course. “We’re not going to retreat. We’re here to follow this through," he said.
While condemning what he called “Hamas’s murderous attack on October 7th," Miliband argued that it “cannot justify the suffering the Netanyahu government has inflicted in Gaza and the West Bank." He described that suffering as “a stain on the conscience of the world."
Miliband said his dispute was with Israel’s government rather than its people. Recalling that his grandmother found refuge in Israel after World War II, he said the bonds between Britain and Israelis seeking peace were “too strong to be broken."
Israel has announced measures in response to the British policy, including the closure of the British Consulate in Jerusalem and the removal of British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat.