Most of the country clearly believes that the Government’s newly announced actions to be taken to curb the illegal Israeli settlements are overdue… but very welcome nonetheless. It’s not universal, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews condemning the change, but liberal Jewish groups, such as Yachad, made the obvious but important point that “These new policies do not target Israel; they target the occupation. They draw a clear distinction between the legitimacy of the State of Israel and the settlement enterprise which is illegal under international law.”

As a Liberal Democrat, and as Vice Chair of the Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine, I am really pleased that the Government finally appears to be taking strong action in support of international law, bringing it broadly into line with Lib Dem policy that’s been in place since 2021. I’m proud that Liberal Democrats have led the way on taking a tough, principled stand that respects the rights and aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians, while expecting and demanding that both sides abide by their obligations under international law.

I’m saddened however that the media and the public have so little awareness of our position, despite the best efforts of our Parliamentarians in the Houses of Commons and the Lords. I regret to say that I believe our failure to take this message strongly out of parliament and to the people has contributed to us underperforming in opinion polls and elections over the last year and more.

Both for reasons of seizing the moment politically – doing what we can to advance a just peace – AND to boost our standing with the public, I think it’s crucial that we take the opportunity that our Autumn Conference provides, not only to debate Israel-Palestine but to further advance party policy.

The Lib Dem Friends of Palestine have submitted an emergency motion addressing the role of the settlements and settlers in the collapse of the two state solution and making life – obviously and deliberately – unbearable for Palestinians. The deadline for submissions was prior to the Government’s announcements, but I’m pleased nevertheless that we correctly anticipated most of what Miliband introduced. We welcome the Government’s actions but recognise that it will all come down to implementation and our motion sets out in some detail how Liberal Democrats should engage constructively in the process of designing and enforcing the rules. Our motion also goes further in a few places where it would be useful to do so, namely calling for the suspension of all military cooperation and the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement while Israel remains in defiance of international law with regards the illegal settlements. We also propose exploring a programme of progressively banning travel to the UK by Israeli settlers, beginning with the most extreme.

It’s important that we Lib Dems don’t seek to be different just for the sake of being different and that our policy is designed to actually advance our aims: the end of the occupation of Palestine and a secure peace for both peoples. But we are a political party. We must demonstrate our relevance to the electorate on an issue so many care so much about – especially when our values align with the public’s. With everything that’s taken place so recently, we need to talk about Israel-Palestine but there’s no point having a conversation in which we simply pat ourselves on the back now that Labour has caught up with us. We must do more than simply reiterate existing party policy which now aligns – more or less – with that of the Government.

As the Lib Dem Friends of Palestine say clearly: the “announcement is an important step forward, but it should not be the final one. If Israel continues to expand the settlements and entrench its unlawful occupation, the UK must be prepared to take further measures to uphold international law and put meaningful pressure on the Israeli government to change course.”

I hope that party members will join us in calling for a serious debate on Israel-Palestine at our conference which will meaningfully advance party policy and our public reputation.

* Jonathan Brown is a member of the Chichester Liberal Democrats, is Vice Chair of the Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine and Chairs the Liberal Democrats for Free Syria.