Will This Labour Government Hold Itamar Ben-Gvir and Israel to Account for Genocide?
Andy Burnham’s promise to ‘do better’ on Gaza is now tested by the Israeli national security minister’s ‘abhorrent’ rhetoric, calling for the nightly killing of Palestinians. Labour MPs want action.
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Somewhere in Westminster a civil servant had the job of choosing an adjective in response to an Israeli government minister calling for the killing of Palestinians and declaring that “they’re not even people”. Not a policy, not a sanction but an adjective. When I asked the Foreign Office for a comment, after some time, the word it landed on was “abhorrent”. As governmental language goes, that is almost as strong as it gets. It also, however, commits the government to absolutely nothing.
I had asked the Foreign Office to respond to comments by Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, on a podcast hosted by Rom Braslavski, a former Israeli hostage, in which he said: “I think targeted assassinations should be carried out in Gaza, taking down 30 to 40 every night. Not just those who pose an immediate threat – there are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people.”