Covid-19
Vaccine
(Bury South)
(Con): Israel is at the forefront of MedTech innovation, which
presents many opportunities for the UK’s healthcare system, such as
the use of AI technology in diagnostics and screening. Can my hon.
Friend tell me what the Government’s plans are to strengthen
partnerships between Israeli MedTech companies and UK researchers,
particularly in the north-west, to help them not only develop a
vaccine but better prepare for the potentiality of any future
pandemic?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and
Commonwealth Affairs (): International
collaboration is absolutely vital as we search for a vaccine, and
finding a vaccine for covid-19 is a top priority for the
Government. The Prime Minister has made it clear that we see
vaccines as a global challenge and that no one country can do
this alone. That is why the UK has called for clear global
commitments from international partners to tackle the pandemic,
including through the G7, the G20 and other international forums.
The Prime Minister hosted a global vaccine summit on 4 June,
which brought together more than 60 countries, including 44 Heads
of State and Government, and raised an incredible $8.8 billion to
support immunisation of more than 300 million children against
vaccine preventable diseases.
West Bank: Planned Annexation
(Gower) (Lab)
What recent representations he has made to the Israeli Government
on their planned annexation of parts of the west bank. [904016]
(Sunderland Central)
(Lab)
What assessment he has made of the effect of Israel’s plan to
annex parts of the west bank on human rights in that region.
[904018]
The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa ()
The UK’s position is clear: we oppose any unilateral annexation.
It would be a breach of international law and risk undermining
peace efforts. The Prime Minister has conveyed our position to
Prime Minister Netanyahu on multiple occasions, including in a
phone call in February and a letter last month. The UK’s position
remains the same: we support a negotiated two-state solution
based on 1967 borders, with agreed land swaps, Jerusalem as a
shared capital and a pragmatic, agreed settlement for refugees.
Current sanctions are clearly not working as a deterrent for
Israel’s plan to annex the west bank illegally. Strong words at
this point are a betrayal of the Palestinian people—they need
actions. Can the Minister outline what action the Government will
take against annexation?
The Government have maintained a dialogue with Israel. We are
attempting to dissuade it from taking this course of action,
which we believe to be not in its national interest and not
compliant with international law.
[V]
In 1980, the UN Security Council condemned Israel’s illegal
annexation of East Jerusalem and, in ’81, its illegal annexation
of the Golan Heights. What lesson does the Minister think the
Israeli Government took from the failure to see those Security
Council resolutions adhered to? Are the UK Government abandoning
the Palestinian people, as suggested in a recent open letter by
UK charities?
The UK Government remain a friend of Israel and also a friend of
the Palestinian people. We have continued to have dialogue both
with the leaders of the Palestinian Authority and with the
Government of Israel, and we encourage them to work together to
come towards an agreed settlement that will see a safe, secure
state of Israel alongside a safe, secure and viable Palestinian
state. There is still the opportunity for that negotiated
settlement to be the outcome, and we will continue working with
both the Israelis and the Palestinians to facilitate that.
(Wigan) (Lab)
World leaders are warning of consequences should annexation go
ahead, but the silence from this Government has been deafening,
so much so that the Israeli newspaper Haaretz says that France is
now the world’s “last, best hope” to stop annexation. This really
is shameful. I raised my concerns with the US ambassador—has the
Minister? Will he commit to a ban on settlement imports and
recognise Palestine, as this House voted to do? Forgive me, I may
have missed it. If he will not do those things, can he tell us
what exactly he is proposing to do?
The UK remains a friend and ally to the state of Israel and a
good friend to the Palestinian people. It is tempting—and I am
sure it will placate certain voices on the left of the political
spectrum—to stamp our feet and bang the table, but we will
continue to dissuade a friend and ally in the state of Israel
from taking a course of action that we believe will be against
its own interests, and we will do so through the most effective
means available.
(Stirling) (SNP) [V]
I listened carefully to the previous exchange, and I have much
respect for the Minister, but I am not asking him to stamp his
feet or bang the table—I am asking him to match the sensible
position that he has outlined today on the illegal annexation of
the already illegally claimed settlements with some actual
action. No amount of warm words and sympathy are going to cut it
in this discussion. My party, likewise, is a friend of the
two-state solution. We are a friend of the Israeli state, and we
are a friend of the Palestinians as well. We want to see a viable
solution, but there is a lively debate that we can influence
right now within Israel, and we need to put action on the table,
not warm words and sympathy. Settlement goods should at the very
least be labelled as illegal, and targeted sanctions need to be
put on the table to focus the minds of the coalition. I urge him
to act, not just talk.
Mr Speaker
I hope, on his second question, the hon. Gentleman will be
briefer.
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has spoken with his
opposite number and other members of the Israeli Government, as
have I and indeed our Prime Minister. We are working to dissuade
Israel from taking this course of action. There will always be
voices in British politics that would jump at any opportunity to
bring in sanctions and disinvestment. We do not agree with those
voices, and we will continue to work towards a negotiated
two-state solution, using the diplomatic means we have at our
disposal.
I appreciate that answer, and I would urge more. When Russia
illegally occupied Crimea, the UK Government, with our support,
implemented sanctions with the international community. We need
that sort of action now, and I would urge the Minister to greater
efforts than we have heard today.
I reiterated the UK’s position at the UN Security Council on 24
June. I made it clear that annexation would not go unanswered.
However, I will not stand at this Dispatch Box in order, as I
say, to placate some of the traditional voices in criticism of
Israel when the best way forward is to negotiate and speak with a
friend and ally, in the Government of Israel, to dissuade them
from taking a course of action that we believe is not in their
own best interests.
Topical
Questions
(Burnley) (Con)
The situation in the middle east is a concern to me and my
constituents and it is a long-running problem, which has not just
existed for the past couple of weeks. Could the Secretary of
State outline the steps that we are taking to bring both Israel
and Palestine to the table, so that we can secure lasting peace
in the region? [904081]
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and
First Secretary of State ()
I have spoken to President Abbas and Benny Gantz and Foreign
Minister Ashkenazi, as well as Prime Minister Netanyahu
previously. We make clear that the United Kingdom’s consistent
position—in fairness, across all sides of this House—is that we
want to see a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. We
acutely feel that the vacuum without talks is very dangerous. We
want to see talks proceed. That is why we are working with those
partners in the region, Arab countries and the E3.
Let me be absolutely crystal clear to the House: we have made
clear that any annexation, partial or full, in relation to
further territory in the occupied territories and the west bank
would be both contrary to international law and counterproductive
to peace.
(Sunderland Central) (Lab)
[V]
Does the Foreign Secretary agree that it is time for the UK
Government and others to ban trade with settlements, given that
Israeli settlements are illegal? It is now the time for a ban,
not a sanction, of goods. [904087]
The UK’s position on imported goods from Israel remains
unchanged. As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has
highlighted, we oppose annexation. We have made it clear to the
Government of Israel that we regard it as contrary to
international law, and also not in their own interests. That
position will remain unchanged.
