Panellists suggested that there is a central struggle in confronting Netanyahu on security issues, as those in opposition have been branded “traitors” for diverging on security policy.
Agmon said the opposition coalition had said “nothing about the war”, focusing instead on conscription for the ultra-Orthodox and the cost of living.
An “effective delegitimisation campaign” had succeeded in portraying even right-wing opponents of Netanyahu as “lefty traitors”, he said.
“One reason in Israel that the opposition does not talk about war or security is that they see if you say anything about security that is not what Netanyahu is saying you will be considered a traitor,” he explained.
“I don’t think there is a security vision at all from the opposition,” he added, arguing that Gadi Eisenkot would struggle to explain how his approach differed from Netanyahu’s.
Moattie said a future Israeli government should “change all of the ambassadors”, as most represented Likud and its leader rather than the public.
But restoring Israel’s standing would also require movement on the Palestinian issue, she said. “The elephant in the room is the Israel-Palestine conflict. As soon as we start to do something, everything will change.
“Between the river and the sea, there are 14 million human beings. We know our history, and we don’t want to bring Yugoslavia or South Africa to the Middle East.
“So we have to end it, and there is a solution,” she continued.
Moattie, who served as head of the Knesset’s committee on foreign affairs, thanked the UK government for its position on Palestinian statehood.
“I would like to tell you, on a personal note... we do appreciate your current government and its loyalty to the security of Israel and to the two-state solution.”
Agmon said the elephant was that a government which had “brought about the biggest security disaster” for the Jewish people since the Holocaust remained in office.
Both Moattie and Garson stressed the trauma shaping Israeli public opinion.
Israelis “still have this fear that something really bad will happen to us”, Moattie said, while Garson argued that the electorate’s “existential concerns” had to be addressed before difficult political choices could be made.
“No country can make difficult decisions unless they are whole on the inside,” she said, describing continued support for Netanyahu despite the October 7 failures as a form of “Stockholm syndrome”.
Mekelberg said he believed political leadership could quickly restore a sense of hope in the peace process, recalling the efforts to resolve the conflict in the 1990s.
“Hope can be created in a few days,” he said. With sufficient political will, settler violence – which he described as terrorism – could be stopped “within days”, while transfers of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority could also resume quickly.
Jerusalem has repeatedly withheld the transfer of tax revenues to the PA, citing Ramallah's support for terrorism.
Sewards told the room, “It’s exactly one month before Israelis go to the polls in what will be a crucial election.
“In my view it is existential, and it’s absolutely vital that the Israeli people take this opportunity to remove Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition from office.”
Sewards said that the Democrats – one whose list Moattie is the 14th – is “making the case for a progressive voice in the next government.”
The discussion also turned to hostility towards Israel within Labour, including Birmingham MP Tahir Ali’s call in the Commons for “military action” against Israel, which he subsequently retracted and apologised for.
Sewards stressed that Ali “does not represent the government” and had apologised following an intervention by party whips.
“I think the punishment could have been harder, but that’s just my view,” he said.
A sign outside Labour Party conference[Missing Credit]
Elsewhere at the conference, delegates did not select the Middle East for debate on the main floor.
Outside the Liverpool conference centre, attendees were confronted by protesters displaying a sign proclaiming, “Zionists control the Labour Party”, alongside a crossed-out blue Star of David dripping with blood.
Another placard read “Andy Burnham stop selling death”, while protesters displayed several images of emaciated Gazan children.
Police made several arrests at a separate protest in support of Palestine Action, where more than 200 demonstrators sat outside the conference, many holding homemade banners reading: “I support Palestine Action.”
