David Cameron explains why he planned to sanction Israeli ministers – as Starmer considers move
David Cameron has told Sky News he planned to sanction two Israeli ministers while in government but “ran out of time” – as Sir Keir Starmer said he was considering the move over their “abhorrent” comments.
In an interview with Kay Burley, the former foreign secretary called on Sir Keir to “find a way” to penalise Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Mr Smotrich has been criticised for suggesting it might be “just and moral” to withhold food aid from Gaza, while Mr Ben-Gvir has backed the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
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Lord Cameron said he had been looking at imposing the sanctions himself before the general election.
He told Sky News he believed the move to put pressure on Israel was a “better option” than a partial arms embargo, which Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced in September.
Lord Cameron said: “I was looking at the things we could do to say to the Israelis we back your right to self-defence… but at the same time, we do want you to try and obey… humanitarian law.
“And these two ministers are people who have tried, they’ve encouraged you, to stop aid getting into Gaza and encouraged the extreme settlers in the West Bank to carry out illegal acts.
“So it seemed to me it was worth looking at whether we could sanction these two individual ministers.”
Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich (L) and Itamar Ben-Gvir (R) may be sanctioned by the UK. Pics: Reuters
Lord Cameron said he ultimately didn’t enact the measures because he was advised “that it was quite a political act in the wrong direction”, adding that “we sort of ran out of time”.
“I mention it because we now have 100 days of the new government, and it seems to me looking at that is actually a better option than what they’ve done in terms of the partial arms embargo on Israel, because we do back Israel’s right to self-defence,” he said.
You can watch Kay Burley’s full interview with David Cameron on Sky News from 6am on Thursday.
Sir Keir told MPs earlier on Wednesday that he was “looking at” the option of sanctioning the two Israeli ministers.
The PM said Mr Smotrich and Mr Ben-Gvir had made “abhorrent” comments about the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
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“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire,” he added.
“The death toll has passed 42,000 and access to basic services is becoming much harder.
“Israel must take all possible steps to avoid civilian casualties, to allow aid into Gaza in much greater volumes, and provide the UN humanitarian partners the ability to operate effectively.”
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Reacting to the prime minister’s comments, Mr Ben-Gvir told Israeli media that “just as before the establishment of the Jewish state the British worked to make it impossible, now they continue to do so after its establishment in the midst of an existential war”.
He said “the days of the British Mandate” – which saw the UK govern what was then Mandatory Palestine – “are over”.
Itamar Ben-Gvir (centre) issued a response to Sir Keir Starmer’s comments. File pic: Reuters
Mr Ben-Gvir added: “They do not scare me, and I will continue to act in accordance with the supreme national interests of the state of Israel only and for the people of the country.”
The UK government has announced a fresh wave of sanctions in response to violence by “extremist Israeli settlers” in the West Bank.
The measures target three outposts and four organisations that have supported and perpetrated “heinous abuses of human rights” against Palestinian communities in the occupied territory, Mr Lammy said.
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The UK has also called an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council as the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza deteriorates.
Mr Lammy said access to basic services is “worsening” and the UN has reported “barely any food has entered in the last two weeks”.
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Are Rachel Reeves’s fiscal rules quite as iron clad as she insists?
How tough is her armour really? And is there actually scope for some change, some loosening to avoid big tax hikes in the autumn?
We’ve had a bit of clarity early this morning – and that’s a question we discuss on the Politics at Sam and Anne’s podcast today.
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And tens of billions of pounds of borrowing depends on the answer – which still feels intriguingly opaque.
You might think you know what the fiscal rules are. And you might think you know they’re not negotiable.
For instance, the main fiscal rule says that from 2029-30, the government’s day-to-day spending needs to be in surplus – i.e. rely on taxation alone, not borrowing.
And Rachel Reeves has been clear – that’s not going to change, and there’s no disputing this.
But when the government announced its fiscal rules in October, it actually published a 19-page document – a “charter” – alongside this.
And this contains all sorts of notes and caveats. And it’s slightly unclear which are subject to the “iron clad” promise – and which aren’t.
There’s one part of that document coming into focus – with sources telling me that it could get changed.
And it’s this – a little-known buffer built into the rules.
It’s outlined in paragraph 3.6 on page four of the Charter for Budget Responsibility.
This says that from spring 2027, if the OBR forecasts that she still actually has a deficit of up to 0.5% of GDP in three years, she will still be judged to be within the rules.
In other words, if in spring 2027 she’s judged to have missed her fiscal rules by perhaps as much as £15bn, that’s fine.
A change could save the chancellor some headaches. Pic: PA
Now there’s a caveat – this exemption only applies, providing at the following budget the chancellor reduces that deficit back to zero.
But still, it’s potentially helpful wiggle room.
This help – this buffer – for Reeves doesn’t apply today, or for the next couple of years – it only kicks in from the spring of 2027.
But I’m being told by a source that some of this might change and the ability to use this wiggle room could be brought forward to this year. Could she give herself a get out of jail card?
The chancellor could gamble that few people would notice this technical change, and it might avoid politically catastrophic tax hikes – but only if the markets accept it will mean higher borrowing than planned.
But the question is – has Rachel Reeves ruled this out by saying her fiscal rules are iron clad or not?
Or to put it another way… is the whole of the 19-page Charter for Budget Responsibility “iron clad” and untouchable, or just the rules themselves?
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Is Labour plotting a ‘wealth tax’?
And what counts as “rules” and are therefore untouchable, and what could fall outside and could still be changed?
I’ve been pressing the Treasury for a statement.
And this morning, they issued one.
A spokesman said: “The fiscal rules as set out in the Charter for Budget Responsibility are iron clad, and non-negotiable, as are the definition of the rules set out in the document itself.”
So that sounds clear – but what is a definition of the rule? Does it include this 0.5% of GDP buffer zone?
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The Treasury does concede that not everything in the charter is untouchable – including the role and remit of the OBR, and the requirements for it to publish a specific list of fiscal metrics.
But does that include that key bit? Which bits can Reeves still tinker with?
I’m still unsure that change has been ruled out.
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