The UK Parliament recently debated the extent of Israel’s influence in UK politics following a public petition backed by 118,000 people. However, the debate was a one-sided stitch-up where pro-Israel speakers got 82% of the speaking time and the result was never in doubt, writes Roshan Muhammed Salih.
There was a debate in Parliament on Monday about Israeli influence on UK politics. The debate followed a public petition signed by 118,000 people. Well, I watched the whole debate and it was a disgrace from start to finish.
Firstly, 82 percent of the speakers were from the pro Israel side. Predictably, they called the whole debate antisemitic and kept trying to deflect attention onto other countries like Iran, Russia and China (typical Israeli hasbara tactics). But the Israeli side did at least turn up and did their best to bat for their favourite genocidal state.
On the other hand, the pro Palestine side largely failed to turn up apart from the Muslim independents and Tahir Ali of Labour. Where was Jeremy Corbyn? Where was Zarah Sultana? And many others of course. This was their chance to slam Israel on the back of a massive public petition, but they weren’t even there.
With around 18% max of the speaking time, the Muslim speakers did their best but were largely buried amid an avalanche of love for a state that is mass slaughtering Palestinians. And the result was that the petition motion was rejected.
A clear bias
I have since gone back and totalled up the actual speaking time allocated to each side, and the numbers confirm exactly what it felt like watching it live. The pro-Israel side had one hour and nine minutes to put forward their case. The anti-Israel side had just 15 minutes. That works out at 82% of speaking time for the pro-Israel benches against 18% for everyone else.
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This was not a debate. It was a forum for Israeli hasbara and propaganda, dressed up as parliamentary scrutiny.
Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed laid out the financial reality behind it all, citing Declassified UK reporting that 13 of the then-25 members of Starmer’s Labour Cabinet had received hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations from pro-Israel donors, and that around 180 MPs in total had accepted such funding.
“What are they for?” he asked, pointing out that Britain investigates alleged interference from Russia, China and Iran without hesitation, yet “when substantial evidence of foreign influence concerns Israel, our principles of transparency, scrutiny and accountability appear to vanish.”
Independent MP Shockat Adam raised serious questions about Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, which supplies roughly 85% of Israel’s military drones and land-based equipment. He revealed that freedom of information disclosures show repeated meetings between Elbit executives and the Home Office, asking: “If there is nothing to conceal, why are the details of previous lobbying being withheld from Parliament and the public?”
And what did these serious, evidenced interventions get in response?
Conservative MP John Lamont compared the petition to “historic antisemitic conspiracy theories.” Reform UK’s Richard Tice declared the motion “antisemitic in its very motivation and at its core.”
Labour’s Peter Prinsley described it as repeating “an ancient conspiracy theory repeatedly used to isolate Jews, undermine social cohesion and stoke hatred.” Cabinet Office Minister James Frith closed it out, rejecting the call for a public inquiry and insisting the debate’s premise unfairly singled out Israel.
A failed opportunity
Everyone knows that Israel exerts an overweening influence on UK politics. Everyone knows that the mainstream media, government and a huge number of MPs dance to the Israeli tune. But according to the MPs at yesterday’s debate there is absolutely nothing to see. We are all just antisemites and we should be focusing on Iran, China and Russia and not Israel.
What makes this even harder to swallow is that public opinion is not on their side. A YouGov survey from July 2025 found that just 15% of people in this country sympathise most with Israel, while 37% sympathise most with Palestine. Parliament’s overwhelming defence of Israel bears almost no resemblance to where the British public actually stands.
To conclude, the 118,000 people who signed that petition have been treated with contempt, especially by the pro Palestinians who couldn’t be bothered to even turn up to defend a people suffering genocide.
They were handed a rare opportunity to put Israel’s influence over this country on the parliamentary record. Instead, the chamber handed 82% of the floor to the lobby groups and their sympathisers, and the result reflected exactly that.
