How Israel’s war could backfire – not on Sunak, but Starmer...

Normally, an international crisis poses a bigger test for the government than the opposition, writes Andrew Grice. But while the Tories are instinctively a pro-Israel party, Starmer faces a far more difficult balancing act

The Israel-Palestine question is an extremely emotive issue. While the Tories are broadly united on it, Labour contains much louder voices of dissent (PA)

The war between Israel and Hamas has big implications for UK domestic politics. In his first unexpected foreign policy crisis as prime minister, Rishi Sunak has been sure-footed and statesmanlike. His Commons statement on the Middle East struck the right balance, pledging strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself after Hamas’s barbaric attack on its soil, but also acknowledged an “acute humanitarian crisis” in Gaza. Sunak plans to visit Israel, but the horrific bombing of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza might cause him to pause.

Keir Starmer has echoed Sunak’s approach. He dashed the private hopes of Tory advisers that he might bow to the strong pro-Palestinian sentiment in his party that led some left-wingers to cross a line into antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. Not for the first time, these Tories underestimated Starmer’s ruthless determination to avoid handing the Tories a target.