“We must call this what it is. It is extremism. It is dangerous. It is repellent. It is monstrous.”
Last week, the words of British foreign secretary, David Lammy, in the House of Commons on Israeli cabinet ministers’ calls to “purify Gaza” marked a shift in the UK’s position on Israel’s offensive. Lammy announced that Britain would be suspending negotiations with Israel over a new free trade deal.
“It was remarkable for the language, I think, as much as for what he announced,” the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, tells Michael Safi.
The language is changing, but what actions would apply enough pressure for Israel to change course?
“The three tools I think that do have an impact are obviously arms, and that has not happened,” Wintour says. “The second is the recognition of the state of Palestine, and why that matters is more than a piece of diplomatic dance, because it’s a statement that this is an irreversible moment, that Palestine will exist.
“And then there is the trade which the European Union has with Israel, and that is substantial. The EU’s the biggest trading partner for Israel, and it represents a third of all its trade in terms of export markets.”
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