A rare victory for Israel in the House of Lords

The US mid-terms appeared to bring such bad news for Israel on 4 November that many will have missed a piece of good news coming from the House of Lords on the same day.  

The UK’s current government is gunning for Israel. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced on 8 September 2026 that the UK would be issuing sanctions against Israel. With plenty of sympathy on the backbenches, Labour has clearly decided that this is fertile ground to win back the voters it has lost to the Greens and ‘pro-Gaza’ independents.

In appearing to condone settler violence against Palestinians, Netanhayu’s hapless government gave a gift to the Labour Party, justifying its anti-Israel stance. The new sanctions regulations came into force within weeks of his 8 September speech.

These regulations give the UK government extraordinary new powers. This includes a new system of “urgent designations”, which gives it the right to designate people or companies with little to no evidence. This could mean that designating “members of the IDF” could be a sufficient basis for arrest. One is reminded of Alice in Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts, who declared, “No, no! … Sentence first – verdict afterwards.”

New offences have been added, including “obstruction of humanitarian assistance” and breaches of “International Humanitarian Law”.  While not explicitly naming Israel, given allegations from the UN and various NGOs about its conduct in Gaza, these seem obviously targeted at Israel.

Those who refute this need only to look at the parliamentary journey of the new regulations.

Given the parliamentary tidal wave of righteous indignation against Israel, it was thus something of a surprise when Lord Leigh tabled a ‘Regret’ motion

After being laid before Parliament in mid-October, the Global Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Sanctions Regulations 2026 were debated in a legislation committee at the end of October. The Labour-dominated committee approved the new regulations, with most members singling out Israel as a target country and making it clear – had there been any doubt – that this was the principal focus.

Given the parliamentary tidal wave of righteous indignation against Israel, it was thus something of a surprise when Lord Leigh – a long-time supporter of Israel – tabled a ‘Regret’ motion in the House of Lords, the upper chamber of Parliament. Even more surprising, the Regret motion was debated on 4 November and passed by 94 votes to 90. So many lords requested permission to speak; that the time for the debate had to be extended. Almost all of the speeches were opposed to the new regulations. Outstanding speakers included Lord Gold, one of the UK’s leading litigation lawyers, and Lord Pollock, head of Conservative Friends of Israel.

Passing a regret motion has no legal effect. Nevertheless, the vast majority of such motions are either withdrawn or defeated. Very few are actually carried. Passing such a motion creates a moral obligation on the government to deal with the objections raised; it is listed as a political defeat for the government and highlights a range of concerns with the 2026 Sanctions Regulations, as raised throughout the debate.

The regulations are already in force and will shortly complete their journey through Parliament. The fact of the successful regret motion, however, places a blemish on the regulations and sounds a note of caution. That should lead to some level of restraint when, in early 2027, the UK will issue rules specifically aimed at Israel.

Israel still needs to prepare for a sanctions storm. It will be fierce, and we desperately need an effective government to engage with this danger at the political level. But it is good to know that – by expressing a little regret – such engagement need not be entirely hopeless.

Trevor Asserson is a British lawyer specialising in litigation. He is the founder and Senior Partner at Asserson Law Offices.