David Cameron calls for UK to sanction two Israeli ministers as change on arms embargo 'didn't satisfy anybody'

16 October 2024, 07:03 | Updated: 16 October 2024, 07:39

Lord Cameron: The ongoing attacks must be addressed for a 'sustainable ceasefire that will last'

David Cameron has called for the UK to impose sanctions on two Israeli ministers 'pushing for deeply illegal acts'.

Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Lord Cameron said the change the government made on the arms embargo was a mistake as "it didn't satisfy anybody".

He said people who wanted to see no arms sent to Israel were "still furious" and the Israeli government and their supporters felt they had been "let down" by an ally at a vital time.

An alternative is to sanction ministers who are "recommending and pushing for deeply illegal acts", he said.

"We need diplomacy to play a part alongside what the Israelis have done to try and give Israel the safety and security it deserves, and that's why I think the change the government made on the arms embargo was mistaken," Lord Cameron said.

"It didn't satisfy anybody. The people that want to see no arms sent to Israel are still furious, and the Israeli government and allies of Israel and supporters of Israel are thinking, well, why do you let down an ally at a vital time when they're being attacked, not just by terrorists, but also by an entire state.

"Iran has now launched two of the largest missile attacks in history against the State of Israel, and that's not a time for an ally and a friend to start putting in place an arms embargo.

"And I suggested this morning an alternative, which is look there are ministers in the Israeli government, not Netanyahu, but (Bezalel) Smotrich and (Itamar) Ben-Gvir who have been recommending and pushing for deeply illegal acts like withholding aid from Gaza and supporting violent settlers in the West Bank.

"So why not sanction them? Make a stand about the people in the Israeli government wanting to do unacceptable and illegal things, rather than actually withholding support from Israel at a time when it faces this immense challenge."

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It comes after the US gave Israel a 30-day deadline to increase the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza or risk losing access to their weapons funding.

The UK has also announced fresh sanctions targeting three illegal settler outposts and four organisations that have supported violence against communities in the West Bank.

Lord Cameron welcomed the sanctions, saying: "What's happened in terms of the violent settlers in the West Bank is unacceptable," he said.

"They've been driving Palestinians off their land. They've been terrorising them, frequently using extreme violence, and sometimes disgracefully, the Israeli army and security forces have stood by and let it happen.

"But I think they're missing the point, which is that while I was Foreign Secretary, working up these broader sanctions on two members of the government.

"Now, I can accept that is a big move to make, a big statement to make, but frankly, these two gentlemen are frequently saying, let's stop the aid going into Gaza and telling people to help, you know, blockade the routes and let's encourage settler violence.

"And those things I think are unacceptable, so I welcome what's been done, but I think they've missed the bigger point, which was the work was ready and it was ready for them to put it into place, and they haven't done it."

Lord Cameron also defended Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's calls for the UN to move Lebanon peacekeepers "out of harms way".

He said that despite his support for the UN, "we have also to understand the immense pressure on Israel to try and change the situation so their own citizens can go to their homes in the north of Israel".

The former PM explained: "If you think about it, imagine we were in that situation.

"You know that if somehow a part of Britain was unoccupiable because of a terrorist organisation in a neighbouring country, it would be unacceptable. You'd have to take action.

"You'd have to deal with it, and that is what Israel is trying to do. Now, of course, they have to do it proportionately.

"They have to do it within the rule of humanitarian law. They have to try and work with the UN while they're doing it. They can't tell the UN what to do and all the rest of it.

"But I do have a sympathy with those people in Israel who are saying it's unacceptable that our own people can't go to their own homes in our own country."