‘Horrified’ British MPs call on Starmer to expel Israeli ambassador over Gaza genocide
“Horrified” British MPs have urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to “immediately expel” Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, citing the UK’s binding legal obligations under the Genocide Convention and Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza.
In a letter addressed to Starmer, a cross-party group of MPs accused Israel of waging a genocidal campaign in Gaza. The letter, led by Independent MP Adnan Hussain and signed by MPs from the Independent Alliance, the Green Party, the SNP and the Labour Party’s Abtisam Mohamed, calls for decisive action by the UK to end its complicity in Israeli atrocities.
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“The UK, as a signatory to the Genocide Convention, has a clear and binding legal obligation to prevent genocide wherever it occurs,” the MPs wrote. “Silence or inaction in the face of genocide is not neutrality, it is complicity,” the letter added.
The MPs urged Starmer’s government to expel Hotovely “as a signal that the UK will not tolerate the continued defiance of international law and the perpetuation of mass atrocities.” They also called on the UK to enforce international sanctions against Israel and to support efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold perpetrators accountable.
Hotovely, Israel’s ambassador to the UK since 2020, is a far-right figure who has openly opposed the creation of a Palestinian state and once described the Nakba, the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, as “an Arab lie.” Her denial of the Nakba, and consistent rejection of Palestinian rights, has long been condemned by human rights campaigners as an example of Israel’s erasure of Palestinians.
In her previous role as Israel’s settlements minister, Hotovely vocally promoted illegal Israeli colonisation of the occupied West Bank. Since assuming her role in London, she has routinely intervened in British domestic politics and maintained ties with figures closely aligned with the pro-Israel lobby.
According to Declassified UK, Hotovely has held regular meetings with major donors to the Labour Party and influential lobbyists throughout Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Critics argue that these links amount to undue interference in British politics during a period in which the Israeli government is facing genocide charges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The letter also denounces the Israeli government’s declared intention to carry out a full military occupation of the Gaza Strip, warning that this plan “is the latest escalation in a campaign that has already led to the near-total destruction of Gaza.”
The MPs emphasise that the UK “cannot continue to provide political cover or military support, directly and indirectly, to actions that amount to genocide.” They warn that preaching a rules-based international order while “aiding in its destruction” fatally undermines the UK’s credibility. “It is time,” they write, “for the UK to stand firmly on the side of international law, humanity, and justice.”
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