Lib Dem Friends of Israel chair admits fundamental disagreement with Davey over Gaza position

The chairman of the Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel (LDFI) group has said it fundamentally disagrees with the Party’s position regarding the UN’s claims of genocide in Gaza.

In an email to supporters, Gavin Stollar stated that he had made the organisation’s stance clear to party leader Ed Davey during “a long call,” and had reiterated this view to senior Liberal Democrat advisers.

Speaking on LBC on Tuesday night, Davey said: “Well, now we’ve seen this UN report. We’ve been looking at the International Association of Genocide Scholars. We’ve been looking at Israeli organisations like B’Tselem. They have all said there’s a genocide. And I say with them, there is a genocide.”

In response, the LDFI honorary chairman wrote: “LDFI fundamentally disagrees with the Party’s position regarding the UN’s claims of genocide.

“Whilst we are opposed to the actions and words of the current Israeli government and recognise the ever-deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, the UN committee report on genocide is fundamentally flawed in nine core areas, as set out below from UN Watch’s review and analysis.”

Stollar listed the failure to prove specific intent to destroy a protected group, which he described as “the central and extremely high bar in any genocide case.”

He added that the UN commission’s claim of genocidal intent “fails on this threshold alone, relying on tortured parsing of statements, selective quotations, and conjecture rather than unambiguous evidence.”

Stollar also criticised the report for erasing Hamas from its narrative and failing to note the ongoing hostage crisis.

The email added: “LDFI will continue to fight for justice, fairness, and a two-state solution. We have made our position clear to the Leader directly in a long call today, to his office, and to senior advisers in the Party. We will continue to make the strongest possible representations to that effect.”