Israeli activists urge UK to back ceasefire and dual state recognition
Standing Together campaigners say most Israelis want war to end as they call on Britain to act
Two leading members of Israel’s largest joint Jewish-Palestinian grassroots movement have urged the UK to take action to help end the Gaza war and support the creation of both an Israeli and Palestinian state.
Speaking at a high-profile meeting in Parliament on Wednesday evening, Amin Amara and Uri Weltmann of Standing Together called on MPs to pressure the Israeli government to accept a ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
The event, hosted by Labour MP Alex Sobel in the Boothroyd Room of Portcullis House, featured a wide-ranging dialogue between the activists and British parliamentarians, as well as contributions from the public.
Weltmann, a Jewish Israeli and the group’s national field organiser, said most Israeli citizens wanted the war to end but were being ignored by the country’s leadership. “The majority of citizens want the war to end,” he said. “It’s not easy, but it’s the way.”
Amara, a Palestinian citizen of Israel who directs the group’s Arabic-Hebrew social media work, said the current moment demanded international solidarity with ordinary people. “No-one is going anywhere. Seven million Palestinians will continue living alongside seven million Jewish Israelis,” he said. “We are building a shared home and leadership based on solidarity for all those who refuse hatred.”
In a pointed rebuke of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, both speakers accused Israeli leaders of sacrificing lives to preserve power. “Netanyahu is willing to sacrifice Israelis and Palestinians for his political survival,” Weltmann said.
The speakers urged the UK to act decisively by recognising both Israeli and Palestinian states and applying diplomatic pressure to end what they described as a “corrupt conflict” maintained by political elites on both sides.
“Voices from Israel and Palestine must be heard in political conversations,” Amara said. “There is a common interest between Israelis and Palestinians – ordinary people – outside of the war.”
They criticised the use of laws to suppress dissent, including efforts to silence Palestinian voices, and warned that failing to pursue a lasting political solution would only deepen the divide.
Standing Together has been at the forefront of Israeli anti-war efforts since 7 October. The group launched a “Humanitarian Guard” to protect Gaza-bound aid convoys from settler violence and has campaigned actively for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
“The UK must recognise Palestinian and Israeli states – a voice needs to be heard from the UK,” Weltmann said, adding that while protest movements are crucial, “protests are important, but not enough.”
Founded in 2015, Standing Together has grown rapidly in the past 19 months, advocating for what it calls “a society of change” and a two-state future based on equality, justice and solidarity.
The meeting ended with a call for renewed international involvement – not to pick sides, Amara said, but to support “those willing to build a shared future, not just survive a broken present.”
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