Veteran Tory calls for pro-Israel peers to be ‘removed from Lords’

Sir Alan Duncan has renewed his attack on the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) organisation, calling for the group’s senior officials Lord Polak and Lord Pickles to be “removed from the Lords” for “exercising the interests of another country.”

Speaking to LBC radio the former Conservative MP claimed CFI had “been doing the bidding of Netanyahu”.

Duncan also condemned Israel over it’s war against Hamas in Gaza following the October 7th atrocity claiming:”It is that land theft, that annexation of Palestine, that is the origin of the problem ”

Continuing his attack on Conservative life peer Lord Polak, CFI’s honarary president, and Lord Pickles, the pro-Israel group’s parliamentary chair in the Lords, Duncan said:”They’re the Laurel and Hardy who should be pushed out together”

“It’s slightly improved by the removal by Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman.”

Duncan, who previously accused CFI of preventing him becoming middle east minister under Boris Johnson in his political diaries, also continued to attack pro-Israel Tories in Thursday’s LBC rant.

He claimed former home secretary Suella Braverman “does not believe settlements are wrong, nor do Michael Gove, Oliver Dowden.”

Duncan also called for Priti Patel to be reinvestigated over her infamous 2017 trip to Israel, where she held undisclosed meetings with ministers.

He added:”We still don’t know who paid for her [Patel’s] trip to Israel.”

Turning his attention to security minister Tom Tugendhat he said:”If you read about Tom Tugendhat… how can you have a Security Minister who does not believe in International Law, I think he should be sacked.”

Asked about calls for ban arms sales to Israel in response to its conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza, Duncan said: “We should stop arms sales immediately. Anything in support of what is becoming a total catastrophe in Gaza is morally unacceptable.

“And what we have to accept is that it’s not just what they are doing now that is wrong, it’s what Israel has been doing for years that is wrong because the Israel Defence Force does not follow international law, it has been backing and supporting illegal settlers in the West Bank who steal Palestinian land.

“It is that land theft, that annexation of Palestine, that is the origin of the problem which has given rise to the Hamas atrocity and the battles we are seeing.

“The trouble is that there are people at the top of our own politics who refuse to condemn the settlements and therefore are not supporters of international law.”

Duncan stood down ahead of the 2019 General Election when he was Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, having made numerous controversial statements on Israel – particularly in relation to Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

In 2011, while serving as International Development Minister, he described Israel’s security barrier as a “land grab,” also accusing Israelis of stealing water from Palestinian communities.

A CFI spokesperson said:”CFI is not affiliated to any political party in Israel.

“We enjoy cordial relations across the political spectrum in Israel. We support the Conservative government in its aim of a two-state solution and a peaceful resolution in the Middle East conflict.”