More than 1,000 councillors across Britain stand accused of “cynically exploiting sectarianism” by calling for a boycott of Israel that may be unlawful.
The warning comes ahead of next week’s nationwide local elections, at which many candidates are standing on Gaza platforms.
But already more than 1,300 councillors have signed a Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) letter urging local authorities to pursue BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) policies.
The signatories include members of the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties as well as Greens and independents.
Jewish leaders and mainstream politicians alike have voiced their concern over the risk of inflaming community tensions by focusing on foreign policy instead of prioritising local issues.
Earlier this year, communities secretary Steve Reed said that local authorities that pursue BDS policies could face legal action.
The PSC’s Councillor Pledge for Palestine calling for divestment from Israel has been signed by members of local authorities across the country, from Amber Valley to Wychavon.
It urges local government representatives to “to take all appropriate steps to (1) uphold the rights of the Palestinian people, (2) stand up to Israel for its crimes of genocide and apartheid, and (3) ensure their councils are not complicit, including through divestment of pension funds from complicit companies”.
More than 1,300 councillors signed the ‘Pledge for Palestine’ calling for divestment from Israel. Listed above are the 36 local authorities where 10 more or councillors signed[Missing Credit]
Lord Walney, the government’s former independent adviser on political violence and disruption, cautioned about the impact of local government being hyper-fixated on the conflict in the Middle East at the expense of other political issues.
He told the JC: “National MPs endlessly focusing on Gaza has done nothing except stir up intolerance so I’m not sure what a bunch of borough councillors in Darlington or Eastbourne hope to achieve.”
The former Labour MP went on: “There is an alarming and corrosive tendency for political parties – particularly the Greens – cynically to exploit sectarianism by posturing endlessly about Palestine rather than trying to improve people’s lives.”
In 2024, the JC revealed that MPs spent twice as much parliamentary time debating Israel than the NHS and that Israel was raised more than Ukraine and Sudan combined.
The largest number of councillors in a single local authority backing the pledge is in the north London borough of Islington where a total of 34 representatives – 27 from Labour, three from the Green Party and four independents – signed up to the campaign.
A close second was the east London borough of Tower Hamlets, where 20 councillors from Lutfur Rahman’s Aspire Party, nine from the Labour Party, three independents and one Green all backed the pledge.
Outside London, the local authority with the largest number of signatories was Bradford where 28 representatives – ten Greens, nine independents, eight from Labour and one Liberal Democrat – signed up to the PSC’s call to action.
The JLC’s public affairs director Russell Langer warned about the impact of the pledge, if implemented, on local communities.
“Foreign policy is rightly a reserved matter for the UK government, and councillors should be working to overcome tensions that international conflict can generate within our local communities, not inflaming them,” he said. Langer continued: “It is deeply concerning that more than 1,300 councillors appear to be doing the opposite to the detriment of community cohesion and the safety of the Jewish community.”
There are also questions about whether implementing the PSC’s pledge could open up local councils to the threat of potential legal action.
In January last year, Reed said that “councils should stay out of foreign conflicts and get on with the job of delivering local services” and his department had published guidelines prohibiting boycotts against Israel firms, or those that trade with Israel, adding that the companies might be able to sue councils under the Procurement Act 2023.
Sir Michael Ellis, the former Conservative attorney-general, urged local authorities to heed the secretary of state’s warnings from earlier this year and focus on local issues instead.
“The time has come for councillors to stop pursuing highly partisan foreign policy agendas.
“It is a waste of taxpayers’ money at a time when local services are already creaking,” he told the JC.
A government spokesperson reaffirmed Reed’s position about the potential risk of legal action and told the JC: “Any boycott by a council outside of formal sanctions put in place by the UK government could be unlawful and lead to penalties.”
A PSC spokesperson said: “A legal Position Paper authored by Doughty Street Chambers makes clear that local authorities are obligated to end all investments in companies which aid or assist in the commission of genocide, apartheid and other grave violations of international law.
“This view was recently confirmed by Minister for Pensions, Torsten Bell, who stated in parliament that with ‘regard to international law…the Local Government Pensions Scheme, as a public sector scheme, has particularly high expectations on responsible investment’.”
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