Balance

In the interests of balance I should say that Starmer did talk yesterday to President Abbas, the titular Palestinian figurehead. The relevant comparative section of the No. 10 briefing of the conversation was:

‘The Prime Minister updated President Abbas on his immediate priorities, including securing a ceasefire, the return of hostages, an increase and acceleration in humanitarian aid, and financial support for the Palestinian Authority.’
 
Here it seems the need for a ceasefire has been upgraded somewhat to ‘immediate’ as opposed to merely ‘urgent.’ But there’s no mention of him expressing his condolences for Palestinian deaths, and you’d have thought he might have had something to say about the further expansion of Zionist settlements in the West Bank. When he talks of a ‘two state solution’ and what the conditions are for achieving it, there’s no word on that front—to either of the leaders he spoke to. Diplomacy at its least convincing. But perhaps the No.10 press office aren’t telling us the whole story, and Starmer really did give Netanyahu a good old fashioned bollocking. Only joking! We’ll have to wait and see if UK arms sales to Israel will cease. And perhaps more importantly, will Israel be denied intelligence sharing through the ‘Five Eyes’ arrangements?