There is now a large body of evidence, some of which is
documented in the administration's own NSM-20 report, that makes it
abundantly clear that U.S. weapons transfers to Israel have been misused
by Israeli military forces to strike civilian targets and kill innocent
civilians in Gaza over the past several months.
Prior to the leaked letter Washington had already threatened sanctions
on Ben-Gvir and Smotrich after sanctioning a handful of settler
vigilantes. But to these threats the pair remain unapologetic and
seemingly unconcerned. As reported by Al Jazeera:
They don’t scare me and I will continue to act only according to
Israel’s highest national interests,” Ben-Gvir said in a statement,
while Smotrich said, “No threat will prevent me from doing the right and
moral thing for the citizens of Israel.
The leaked letter perhaps more so than the Cameron interview may have
emboldened Starmer to edge toward finally taking a critical stand on
Israel’s conduct and behaviour in the war of genocide being inflicted
upon the Palestinians. As Andreas Krieg noted in our 1 October podcast:
The biggest problem that the UK has - the previous government and
the new Labour government - is that we're catering too much to a weak
United States government. We're trying to copy and paste what Washington
is doing.
Krieg argues that the UK in following America has seriously
underplayed the soft power influence it still has, particularly in
Europe. More, much more, could be done should the government find the
political will and the courage to do it:
The UK has immense soft power. It's a rallying point. If the UK
takes a decision, even the one on not renewing some arms export licences
to Israel, that sends a signal to other Europeans that they might rally
around. The UK underestimates its soft power in the Middle East and its
responsibility to the region. And if the UK doesn't lead, and I think
it should, and just follows on from the lack of leadership from the US
or trying to copy paste what the US is doing or not doing, it misses an
opportunity. The Labour Government has an opportunity to fill a vacuum
left by the Biden administration to at least lead on the basis of
international law and norms and conventions.
As the air strikes and ground attacks continue in Gaza and
Lebanon and the settler attacks in the West Bank intensify while the
extremists in the Netanyahu cabinet push hard for an all-out war against
Iran – one that influential actors in the Biden administration support –
now may be the time for Keir Starmer to seize the nettle and take firm
action against the likes of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. And at the same time
recognise Palestine
as a state. Ironically the killing of Yahya Sinwar announced yesterday
may create the opening for the kind of bold diplomacy that is so
urgently needed. Starmer is meeting with President Biden, Chancellor
Scholz and President Macron in Berlin today. What better time to take a
stand.