Labour conference votes in support of Israel genocide motion that ‘neglects to mention 7 Oct’

Labour Party conference has voted in support of a trade union-backed motion that accuses Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza and calls for a full arms sale ban by the UK government.

The result provoked a furious response from the Jewish Labour Movement, which said the motion,  proposed by the public service union Unison and seconded by Aslef, the train drivers’ union, “barely pays lip service to the 48 hostages held by terrorists in Gaza” and “neglects to mention October 7.”

In a vote on Tuesday, delegates rejected a motion that was seen as being more supportive of the leadership position on the conflict under Keir Starmer’s leadership in favour of a motion the caled for the government to “employ all means reasonably available to it to prevent the commission of genocide in Gaza”, “fully suspend the arms trade with Israel and the UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement”, and “accept the findings of the UN commission of inquiry”.

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With all the trade unions supporting the more hardline motion, and carrying 50% of the total vote, emergency motion number 2 easily passed on a show of hands in the conference hall in Liverpool.

In a statement after the result, Ella Rose-Jacobs, National Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement said:” JLM are hugely disappointed to see that, thanks to union votes, Labour Party Conference has voted for a motion on Israel-Palestine that neglects to mention October 7th or Hamas and barely pays lip service to the 48 hostages held by terrorists in Gaza.

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“This emergency, non-binding, motion is not the route to the two state solution our Labour government is working towards.

“Whilst the debate itself was conducted with civility, the outcome is not what we’d expect to see from a Party of government.

“We urge the government to continue to pursue a path of peace for all Israelis and Palestinians.”

Jewish News understands JLM decided against supporting either motion after consulting with its members.

Labour members attending the conference told Jewish News they were also angry at the result claiming their voices were ignored at the hands of the big unions.

During the earlier debate, Christina McAnea, the Unison general secretary, asked all members to vote for the union-backed motion against a genocide in Gaza, and against the government-backed motion.

She told the conference: “This is genocide. But if we wait for this to be confirmed by a court, it will be too late, because it’s already happening as we sit here.”

An emergency motion with the same title, Peace in the Middle East, moved by Hackney North and Stoke Newington Constituency Labour Party (CLP), failed.

That motion called on the Government to “fully suspend arms trade with Israel that could be used in the conflict”, reflecting the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s decision last year to suspend about 30 licences for items used in the current conflict in Gaza which go to the Israel Defence Forces.

In a well-received speech, Jewish Labour councillor Joshua Garfield warned the conference that passing the hard-line motion would “dishonour” the family of Sharone Lifschitz, the daughter of kidnapped Israelis – one murdered, one freed after the October 7 massacre – who was speaking at events in Liverpool that day. “Sharone chooses not vengeance, but peace,” said Garfield.

“The peace her murdered father, Oded, believed in – from a kibbutz that escorted Palestinians to life-saving surgery.

“Her mother Yocheved, who lost everything yet still calls for reconciliation. Her father, who worked on the ground for coexistence and understanding between Palestinians and Israelis, did more for peace than most of us will ever manage.

“That is not the easy path. It is the hardest. But it is necessary.

“We would dishonour Sharone’s family, her ransacked community, and thousands of war victims if we pass a motion that ignores Hamas; does not even say the word ‘Hamas’.”

The result of Tuesday’s vote is non-binding and will therefore not be taken up as Labour Party policy. However, it will be used by the left as further evidence of discontent with Starmer.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal claimed: “This is a huge defeat for the Government, with the Labour Party finally accepting that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

“This historic vote must now become Government policy: imposing comprehensive sanctions on Israel and a full arms embargo.”

But the Jewish Leadership Council said: “Actively ignoring the threat posed by Hamas demonstrates that these delegates are not motivated by a peace which best serves the people of that region.”

The vote comes as ministers are looking at a fresh assessment prepared by officials as to whether there is a “serious risk” that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said the “rules-based order” which he believes in means that courts must rule if a genocide is taking place, not politicians.

Lammy, who was foreign secretary until earlier this month, said he believed in “the rules-based order”, when asked about the vote.

He continued: “That means that it must be for the ICJ with their judges and judiciary, and for the ICC, to determine the issue of genocide in relation to the convention, it is not for politicians like me to do that.

“But it is for the public to look at what they see and come to their own judgments about what they see.”

Earlier Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper had spoken at the conference.

She said that at the United Nations last week she saw “a growing determination from countries across the globe that this intolerable suffering must end”.

“For the children facing starvation while while Israeli block food at the border, for the hostages and their families in anguish,” added Cooper.

She spoke of the need for a Gaza “without Hamas” and  “without hunger; rebuilt for the Palestinian people”.

The Foreign Secretary added: “Hamas must end its abhorrent detention of hostages – the calculated cruelty that has split and traumatised families for nearly two years.

“And the Israeli government must end the moral obscenity of this campaign that has seen food, water and medicine denied, and an unconscionable loss of human life.

“Because Palestinian civilians should not have to go another day in fear and hunger.

“The hostages should not have to live another day in the darkness of captivity. No family should endure another loss. Enough is enough.”

The Israeli embassy in the UK professed “profound disappointment” at the passage of the motion, describing it as “nothing less than a reward for terror, providing legitimacy and encouragement to extremism, jihadism, and antisemitism.”

The embassy affirmed that “Israel remains committed to working with the UK Government, business community, and civil society to deepen cooperation and strengthen the close bonds between our two countries, in the firm belief that the only way forward is through dialogue, partnership, and innovation.”