UK government has ‘no plans’ to work with Ben Gvir, confirms Cleverly

Foreign secretary James Cleverly has confirmed the UK government has “no current plans” to work with Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Cleverly also reiterated the UK’s stated position that all West Bank settlements are “illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and threaten the physical viability of a two-State solution.”

But he also said that the UK was looking forward to working with Netanyahu’s new government to “strengthen our excellent bilateral ties.”

He also rejected the assertion of a letter, sent to him by the Council for Arab-British Understanding, that the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories could be termed “apartheid.”

“The UK government has not engaged Itamar Ben-Gvir in his role as Minister of National Security, and we have no current plans to do so,” Cleverly wrote in a letter to the Council for Arab-British Understanding published on Thursday.

Foreign Secretary @JamesCleverly states to Parliamentarians that UK has not engaged Itamar Ben Gvir in role as National Security Minister & has no plans to do so. He reaffirms long standing UK position that all Israeli settlements inc outposts are illegal https://t.co/TP6ur8IyBR pic.twitter.com/PTnNzZyrrQ

— Caabu (@Caabu) February 23, 2023

The foreign secretary was responding to a letter sent to him in December which raised concerns about expected plans by the government to annex parts of the West Bank or expand settlements.

It also singled out two far-right politicians who were given senior ministerial roles — Ben Gvir and Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister.