Sharone Lifschitz tells JLM conference event ‘Peace is imperfect, but better than war’
Hostage family member urges diplomacy amid Labour debate on Palestine Recognition
British-Israeli academic Sharone Lifschitz addressed a Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) event at the Labour Party conference, expressing confusion over why many in the UK Jewish community felt compelled to oppose recognition of a Palestinian state as a show of solidarity with hostage families.
In a moving speech to a packed room in Liverpool, Lifschitz—whose father Oded, 84, was killed by Hamas terrorists after the October 7 massacre, and whose mother Yocheved was freed after being captured at Kibbutz Nir Oz—said many hostage families in Israel were “desperately trying to do everything possible to bring about a diplomatic solution.”
She recalled lessons from her father, a veteran Israeli peace activist, journalist, and founding member of Kibbutz Nir Oz, highlighting that peace agreements are often “as imperfect as can be,” but that “the only thing it’s better than is war.”
Reflecting on her experience, Lifschitz admitted, “The last weeks were a bit confusing for me, in the sense that a lot of the Jewish community here felt they had to oppose the recognition of the State of Palestine on behalf of the hostage families. Well, in Israel, so many of us were so desperately trying to do everything possible to bring about a diplomatic solution.”
She added, “If there’s anything I learned from my father, who campaigned for a diplomatic solution with the Peace Now movement—my earliest memories are of sitting on his shoulders at peace rallies—it’s that making peace is not easy. You may know more about the peace agreement in Northern Ireland: it’s almost bloody, just without the blood.”
Lifschitz described the current reality for border communities in Israel: “At the moment, we are part of a horrific, horrific war. It’s beyond anything we, the border communities, have ever experienced. I spend a lot of time in the south of Israel, and the rhythm of life is birdsong and explosions—endless explosions. It turns the heart.”
She also read a letter signed by numerous hostage family members in Israel, urging the international community to intervene and help bring about a diplomatic solution.
Lifschitz was met with loud applause as she spoke of her father’s lifelong commitment to the Labour movement and socialism.
The JLM fringe event took place after the Labour conference passed a motion calling for a full arms embargo on Israel and accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza—without reference to the October 7 massacre.
Labour minister and Finchley and Golders Green MP Sarah Sackman relayed a message from the party leadership to JLM activists, clarifying that this was not a position the leadership supported. Sackman acknowledged the challenges politics presents to the community, but also welcomed the influx of young activists, saying the party could feel like a wider “family” alongside the Jewish community.
Baroness Anderson noted that while progress had been made in combating antisemitism in Labour, there was still work to do, and Jewish members must not give up the fight for continued progress.
JLM’s national chair, Ella Rose-Jacobs, and national secretary, Miriam Mirwitch, also received loud cheers as they delivered defiant messages to activists at the event, held at the Liverpool Pub.
Lord Katz also delivered a well-received speech in which he also warned about the rise in support for divisive politics around Nigel Farage’s Reform Party.
Among those to attend JLM’s event was GMB union leader Gary Smith.
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