DAVID Cameron has been challenged on how the UK Government will respond to “genocidal” language from the Israeli ambassador and other far-right politicians from Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The unelected Foreign Secretary has been sent a letter raising concerns by SNP MP Tommy Sheppard in the wake of “outrageous, wholly unacceptable” comments from Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to the UK.
Speaking to LBC news last week, Hotovely said that “every school, every mosque, every second house” in Gaza is a legitimate target for the Israeli military.
In December, the hard-right diplomat dismissed proposals for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, saying: “The answer is absolutely no.”
Writing to Cameron, Sheppard said the comments were part of a growing pattern from far-right Israeli politicians and it was time for the UK Government to consider “what diplomatic and economic leverage should be brought to bear”.
“The comments made by the Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, last week while being interviewed on LBC Radio are extremely alarming and I am writing to ask you to make clear the UK Government’s condemnation of such remarks,” the SNP MP wrote.
Sheppard said Hotovely’s (below) comments were “outrageous, wholly unacceptable, and seek to justify the indiscriminate mass destruction and killings currently taking place in Gaza”.
He went on: “Regrettably, the language used by the ambassador is yet another example of escalating rhetoric from far-right Israeli politicians. Israeli government ministers such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir have encouraged emigration from Gaza, which is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
“Israeli politicians such as Moshe Saada, of the ruling Likud party, have also called for the destruction of Gaza in its entirety.”
Saada hit the headlines last week after claiming: “Everywhere I go, [Israelis] tell me that all the residents of Gaza must be destroyed.”
Sheppard wrote: “The range and depth of what can only be described as genocidal comments from Israeli politicians is, I hope, something about which the UK Government will be extremely concerned.”
Sheppard highlighted that “almost 70% of Gazan homes have been destroyed”, with more than 1.8 million Palestinians in the region displaced since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7.
He further said that more than 90% of people in Gaza have been forced to go without food for more than a day, going on: “It is clear from the remarks of senior Israeli politicians that Israel intends to continue its onslaught against Gaza and its people.
“In these circumstances it is incumbent on the UK and international partners to act urgently to prevent further harm to Palestinians and to ensure international law and human rights are upheld.
“You, alongside other ministers, have consistently said that you believe international law should be upheld. Given it is now clear that the Israeli Government is impervious to such representations, is it not time to consider what diplomatic and economic leverage should be brought to bear?”
The news comes as Cameron is quizzed on Gaza and other topics by Westminster’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
As a peer in the Lords, the former prime minister is usually able to dodge answering questions from MPs, a situation the SNP’s former Westminster leader Ian Blackford said was “not acceptable”.
Being questioned on Tuesday, Cameron refused to answer when SNP MP Brendan O'Hara highlighted how his comments about Israel turning on the water in Gaza amounted to a tacit admission that the country had broken international law by turning it off.
The Foreign Office has been approached for comment.
