Transcript [00:00] But, actually, the situation in the West [00:01] Bank is different. You do not have Hamas [00:03] attacking from there. Instead, you have [00:05] Israeli settlers, now backed in ways by [00:07] the Israeli government, going into [00:09] Palestinian territory in ways that is [00:11] recognized internationally as breaking [00:13] international law. [00:14] >> The situation in the West Bank is [00:16] different because the Israeli army is [00:18] there. No one has any doubt that if the [00:20] Israeli army were to disappear, Hamas [00:23] would seize control tomorrow. [00:24] >> all well and good, but why not leave it [00:26] there, Andrew Mitchell? Why not leave it [00:28] there [00:28] and not have Israeli settlers building [00:31] settlements there, building their homes [00:32] there? That is different from having the [00:34] Israeli army there to try to protect [00:36] Israeli people. [00:37] >> I don't understand. What is Britain [00:38] suggesting here? That Israel needs to [00:41] pull a half a million Israeli civilians [00:43] from towns and villages out of Judea and [00:46] Samaria? That the path to peace is to [00:48] rip half a million people out of their [00:51] homes where most of them are living [00:53] peacefully in order to create territory [00:55] that [00:55] >> No, I'm just saying, don't build these [00:57] 1,200 homes in E1. [01:00] >> Okay. [01:01] E1 is a very strange issue for the [01:03] British government to pick a fight [01:06] because this is territory on the [01:07] outskirts of Jerusalem, Israel's capital [01:09] city. Under any peace plan, this is a [01:13] vital strategic territory on the [01:15] outskirts of Israel's capital city that [01:17] is going to remain under Israeli [01:19] control. The question here is how we end [01:23] Palestinian extremism, how we stop [01:25] Palestinian terrorism. That's not going [01:28] to happen by emboldening the people who [01:30] are sitting and rubbing their hands in [01:32] glee as they see Britain picking a fight [01:34] with Israel because they need to placate [01:36] constituencies in which Gaza [01:38] independence are surging ahead. Look, [01:40] Tom, let's be honest about what the [01:41] motivation is here. The Labour Party [01:44] took a hiding in the last election from [01:45] constituencies where people running on a [01:48] Gaza first slogan [01:50] managed to oust a number of Labour MPs [01:53] and put several others majority in [01:55] question. That's what's at stake here. [01:57] That's why you see the Conservative [01:59] Party coming out very clearly against [02:01] these steps, realizing they are [02:03] extremely damaging to a relationship [02:05] that is very important for the United [02:07] Kingdom. And this is being done for [02:09] political reasons. And if Britain wants [02:12] to support peace, ending funding for the [02:15] UN agency whose staff took part in the [02:17] October 7th massacre, UNRWA, would be a [02:19] good place to start. And I dare say it [02:21] would help to plug the defense gap, the [02:24] defense spending gap that means the [02:26] British Army can't hold training [02:28] exercises right now.
