2 min read
ByMarcus Dysch, Marcus Dysch
A senior Israeli diplomat told me, in the weeks leading up to the parliamentary vote on Palestine, that Israel supporters should not be too disheartened by the events of the past year.
The country was doing well enough economically - political and diplomatic wrangling was no more than a sideshow with no effective impact either there or in Britain. But can the five-hour debate and subsequent call to recognise Palestine last week be dismissed so easily?
Israel supporters in Britain will feel deeply uncomfortable when they consider how the events of last week played out. The most intractable foreign policy issue became a political football, kicked around by headline-grabbing backbench politicians, many of whom are unknown even in their own constituencies.
There was nothing straightforward about the machinations ahead of the debate and there is now palpable frustration on all sides about the outcome.
The readiness of Labour's leaders to take the unprecedented step of attempting to whip MPs on a backbench debate was remarkable.
Who voted
286 MPs took part in the vote
75% of LabourMPs backed the motion.
12.8% of Conservative MPs backed the motion.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander, who only last month had been given a standing ovation at Labour Friends of Israel's conference reception, is now, according to leading party supporters, a "bastard" for his attempts to secure MPs' support for the motion.
That so many of Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet refused to toe the line is a ray of light for the pro-Israel camp on the left.
Party heavyweights - including Ed Balls, Jim Murphy, Michael Dugher, Tristram Hunt, Luciana Berger and Ivan Lewis - all defied Mr Alexander's advances, avoided the Commons, and abstained on the vote.
Some have claimed Mr Miliband's decision to allow MPs to miss the vote, rather than force their resignations, was an indication of his reluctance to pursue a different approach to that of the British and Israeli governments.
Disillusioned Labour supporters in the Jewish community may scoff at that, particularly after the comments of Mr Miliband and Mr Alexander during the Gaza conflict.
The position is at least now clear - if elected in May, Mr Miliband is committed to shifting the government's policy on Palestine. There would be an inevitable knock-on effect for Britain's relationship with Israel.
What can be made of the Tory approach? Less than 48 hours after the result was declared, David Cameron was reasserting the government's position, telling Parliament that recognition was an issue to include in peace negotiations.
Many of the Prime Minister's backbenchers were determined to take on Grahame Morris' original motion and secure a more favourable result.
But once Labour's frontbench decided to whip, a new Tory strategy emerged - boycott the vote to avoid lending it legitimacy.
As a result, the debate eventually featured few pro-Israel speakers on any side of the house.
Guto Bebb, one of Israel's strongest supporters in Parliament, dropped his amendment and stayed away entirely.
It was a dangerous tactic, as many casual observers will interpret a 274-12 result as an indication of minimal support for Israel. In reality, 87 per cent of Conservative MPs did not back recognition of Palestine.
Mike Freer was arguably the only one to escape with his reputation enhanced. He honourably resigned as a private secretary in order to vote against the motion.
That could be seen as a ploy to tie up victory in Finchley and Golders Green next May, but he was commended by those on all sides who know him well as a man of principle.
