As we gather in York for Spring conference, and the Middle East is in turmoil, we must not let the war with Iran and its proxies shift our focus away from the need to take concrete steps towards resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The policy motion on ‘Trump and the wider world’ rightly reiterates existing Liberal Democrat proposals adopted in conference motions ‘The UK’s Response to Trump’ (Spring 2025) and ‘The Israel-Gaza Conflict – an immediate bilateral ceasefire and securing two states’ (Autumn 2024). Indeed, as far back as Autumn 2021, the party acknowledged ‘that illegal settlements represent a breach of international law, and that any UK trade which bolsters such activity is sustaining this breach, by legislating to cease trade with illegal settlements, unless and until a negotiated peace settlement is reached.’ As one of us argued on LDV in July 2024, following the ICJ advisory opinion, banning trade with Israeli settlements is not a policy choice, but a legal requirement. The 2021 motion has also sought to ensure ‘that there is equality of treatment for Israelis and Palestinians in the rules for visa free travel to the UK’. Following the recent recognition of Palestine, the notion that Palestinian inhabitants of that territory continue to be subjected to a different visa regime than its Israeli inhabitants is all the more troubling. These are all sensible, international law respecting policies. Yet how many people outside close Lib Dem circles are aware of them?

When the Labour government recognised the state of Palestine last September, it was following in the footsteps of longstanding Liberal Democrat policies, though political parties are not known to give credit to others (marriage equality anyone?). Unprincipled as it often is, Labour turned a corner when the British public did: polling suggested 44% of Britons supported recognition, and only 13% disagreed. However, a thumping 41% believe it won’t make any difference – a gesture, perhaps, that is unlikely to be followed by actions. Interestingly, last Autumn Labour conference passed a unions-backed emergency motion which stipulated that “to be more than a gesture, recognition must be accompanied by concrete measures” which included “fully suspend[ing] the arms trade with Israel and the UK-Israel trade” and “ban[ning] trade with the illegal settlements”. Yet, unlike Lib Dem motions, Labour conference motions do not appear to bind their party leadership – otherwise we would have had proportional representation by now…

This provides an opening for the Liberal Democrats, if only its leadership will seize it. It should do it not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it is politically savvy. A poll from June 2025 showed that, among those who voted Labour in the 2024 General Election, 68% oppose[d] Israel’s actions in Gaza. It means that thousands of Labour supporters are disappointed by the lack of action and the lack of upholding international law by the labour government. As the recent Gorton and Denton by-election results demonstrate, the Labour party has ostensibly been losing votes to the Green party. However, there are many voters who are turned off by the Green party leader’s explicit anti-Zionist stance, which their forthcoming Spring party conference may formally adopt, including support for ‘a single democratic Palestinian state’, and indeed by their wider approach to international affairs which too often fails to oppose tyrannical regimes.

The normative space the Lib Dems occupy, one which as per the Spring conference motion seeks to encourage the moderates in Israel and Palestine, to uphold the international rules-based legal order, and indeed to adopt a liberal, rights-based approach to foreign policy is one where large parts of the British public can find their home. Israelis and Palestinians need a real push towards justice from the international community, just as disappointed Labour voters need a reliable political home, one which would be committed to promote those policies. It is high time the party leadership rises to the challenge, not just at conference, but in the public arena.

* Ruvi Ziegler is Associate Professor of International Refugee Law at the University of Reading. Matan Rosenstrauch is a Steering Group member of UK Friends of Standing Together, an organiser of Meretz UK, and a member of Mi-Neged.