Sir Alan Duncan: How can we still call Israel an ally?

The inexcusable deaths of seven aid workers in Gaza will prove to be a tipping point in the collapsing reputation of Israel, says Alan Duncan. As the deputy foreign secretary who oversaw the process of weapons licensing from the UK, I now believe selling arms to the Netanyahu government can no longer be justified

‘We should salute our aid heroes by devoting our efforts to securing a Palestinian state’: former foreign minister Alan Duncan (PA)

Challenging the right of Israel to exist, or failing to condemn antisemitism and the atrocity of 7 October, are all inexcusable – but the noise around any of these issues should not be allowed to disguise the appalling conduct of Israel itself.

In all the months before Hamas slaughtered hundreds of innocent Israelis, there was hardly a squeak of condemnation from world leaders about the growing extremism of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, both within and outside Israel. His judicial reforms were an attack on freedom and justice within his own country, while ever more violent settler activity against Palestinians in the West Bank accelerated under the watchful and supportive gaze of the Israeli Defence Forces.

Even then – and, indeed, for many decades of occupation – the claim that the IDF adheres to international law has been running very thin.