Below is my take on Ed Miliband’s speech to Parliament, 8th Sept 2026. I’ve deliberately avoided reading or watching any other opinion pieces on this to ensure you get a completely independent and personal interpretation…
Miliband starts the speech by describing how he visited Tel Aviv in the 70’s and witnessed the “life and sanctuary that Israel had provided” for his grandmother, after she’d escaped the Nazis. He then uses this anecdote to argue against anyone who questions Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people… “you are wrong, and we will call you out whenever you engage in this attempt at the erasure of Israel.” Not a single mention as to how the ‘state of Israel’ came into being, how Jewish terrorists ethnically cleansed villages and murdered thousands of Palestinians, in order to take and occupy Palestinian land and property. It wasn’t Israel who provided that safe haven, it was the Palestinians and it cost the lives of thousands of innocent Palestinians. Even the oranges that he describes gleefully devouring on his holiday to the Kibbutz in the 70’s were grown on stolen Palestinian land. So, no, the occupier does not have a ‘right to exist’, because they do not have a right to occupy stolen land.
Miliband then talks about Oct 7th, which he describes as… “a murderous act by a murderous terrorist organisation, designed to massacre and instil fear across a whole population.” Ed calls on everyone to condemn these threats and act against those who carry them out. But where were the words of condemnation for the Israeli Occupation Forces who have been killing Palestinians (including children) on a daily basis for decades, and who torment and terrorise Palestinian families in the West Bank every single day, with blockades and home invasions at night, at gun point, that inevitably result in innocent people (including children) being attacked and dragged off to prison where they are kept for months, or even years, without charge. No mention of the horrific abuse, including torture and rape, of innocent Palestinians (including children), held without access to legal representation in a military court.
He then repeats many of the US talking points against Iran and Lebanon, which he frames as a threat to Israel, adding “Iran must never have a nuclear weapon,” and announces new economic sanctions against Iran. Let’s be clear, it’s not Iran or Lebanon that’s been bombing, invading and stealing land that belongs to their neighbours, its Israel. In fact, the greater Israel project has now effectively been adopted as Israeli government policy, so the real threat to peace in the middle east is Israel, not Iran.
Miliband talks about rising anti-Semitism in the UK and declares that we will be providing £250milion in community security funds. Note, no mention of rising Islamophobia, which is far more rampant.
As is customary, in order to placate pro-Israelis before making any announcement that they wont like, he goes on to declare that he is… “Unwavering” in his support for the state of Israel, adding… “there is no contradiction between this and my support for the state of Palestine,” before then announcing his governments support for the 2 state solution… “In Gaza… death destruction and dehumanisation on an appalling scale. A stain on the conscience of this world and on this country too.” He references Smotrich’s statement on the West Bank, that Israel must… “bury the idea of the Palestinian State”
Miliband professes solidarity with the people of Israel but criticises the conduct of the Israeli government, suggesting that ordinary Israelis do not support their actions, which is completely contradictory to pretty much every national poll or investigation undertaken to gauge Israeli public opinion on government policy…
Over 70 Percent of Israeli Jews Oppose Arab Parties in Government, Survey Finds
New Poll Finds Broad Support Among Israelis for Encouraging Arab Emigration from the Gaza Strip
What ‘right’ and ‘left’ mean in Israel today
“holding British Jews responsible for the actions of the Israeli government is anti-Semitism, plain and simple” he tells us. Only, here, in Ed Miliband, we have a prominent British Jew, openly expressing an affinity with Israel, defending Israel’s right to (kill, maim, torture, rape) defend itself against Palestinian civilians and providing Israel with the weapons, intelligence and the diplomatic protection that enables them to do it. Also rather complicates matters when you realise that over 2,000 British nationals served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) during the Gaza genocide, this out of a population of just 287,360 people identifying as Jewish in England and Wales, according to the 2021 census
Then he informs us that the objective of the current Labour government is to salvage the 2 state solution. He proceeds to describes the devastation visited on Palestinian families resulting from a massive spike in illegal settlements over the last 4yrs – a total of 4000 Palestinians evicted due to settler violence and state actions, including shooting and killing children… “the creation of a set of facts on the ground to make the 2 state solution inviable,” a set of facts that Miliband describes as ethnic cleansing of the West Bank… “Today I announce that the official view of the British Government is that the occupation is unlawful (a little late to the party but thanks anyway)… I will announce today that we will introduce an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories… we will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing or Real Estate for settlement expansion… we will ban the advertising, in the UK, of illegal settlements… The sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel,” adding that the new legislation will be in place within 6-9 months.
However, Miliband makes it very clear that the UK will continue to trade with Israel, so the real objective here is to support the 2 state solution and to ensure… “security and prosperity for Israel.” Just for clarification he adds… “I whole heartedly oppose the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) campaign”
Miliband then reminds us… “We’ve already suspended over 30 arms licenses used by the IDF in Gaza” and he explains… “we will now also refuse all license applications for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation… The ban on such exports will remain in place as long as the occupation persists.” Only new applications then? No complete ban on arms or other trade? Also, which occupation? Gaza? The West Bank? The whole of Palestine? Note too that while Miliband redirects our attention to the question of ‘occupation’, he manages to completely side step having to mention the Genocide word. He also doesn’t dare mention the apartheid, or the horrific abuse of innocent Palestinian men, women and children (including aggravated rape and denial of health care), while they are held on the flimsiest of charges (and often without charge for an indefinite length of time0 – hostages, in all but name.
Its clear to most that the real purpose of these measures is to turn the tide on the demise of a failing state. Those who advocate for a single state, whether that’s an ethnically cleansed Jewish state expanded far beyond its ‘legal’ domain, or for a single state for all the people of Palestine, irrespective of religious or ethnic identity, are now both seen as a threat to Israel’s existence. Global public opinion today will not tolerate an ethnically cleansed exclusively Jewish state and a state where Muslims, Christians and Jews share equal rights is not the ‘Jewish safe haven’ that some Jews continue to yearn for. It’s worth noting that Miliband takes great care not to suggest that any of these measures are in response to the devastation that Israel has visited on the people of Gaza, recognised as a genocide by many authorities on the subject, or any of Israel’s human rights abuses. He is very careful to frame this as necessary measures to keep the dream of a two state solution alive, because, for many people, it’s only the ever elusive concept of two states that has sustained Israel over the decades – a pledge that will never be fulfilled because of it can only happen with Israel’s consent.
Crucially, because recognising a Palestinian state has also been premised on assured security for Israel, Miliband then has the audacity to urge the Palestinian Authority to “accelerate reform.” He also asks the Israeli government to “lift it’s withholding of revenues,” to the West Bank. It’s like a confidante telling an abused and battered wife “well maybe if you’d just listened a little more or if you made his favourite meal now and then and just didn’t get upset every time he disappeared for a few days and left you penniless and alone with the kids, then maybe he might stop punching you in the face” and then telling your abuser “maybe you should let her have a little money so she can buy some food for the kids and pay the bills.”
Then, as if to press the point, Miliband reminds us again of Hamas’s actions on October 7th, and adds… “Hamas can play no role in the future governance of Gaza, insisting that Hamas must decommission its weapons and dismantle its “terrorist infrastructure” No mention here of the IDF’s response on the day that was perhaps even more devastating for the people of Israel. No mention of the decisions that were taken by the Israeli PM, and others on that day, to not to respond to warnings and alerts. Decisions that ultimately left thousands of ordinary Israelis, and IDF soldiers, completely exposed and vulnerable to attack. Decisions that would result in elevating insecurities about Palestinians and effectively kill off the two state solution, at least for the foreseeable future. Perhaps it’s Netanyahoo and Likud who should have no role to play in the future governance of anything at all? Gaza has been laid to waste, the people of Gaza have been subject to a horrific genocide for 3yrs through bombing, drone strikes and starvation, all while under lock down, with no means of escape and very little access to anything from the outside. Still, it’s the people of Gaza, and not Israel, that Miliband calls on to disarm? We also need to remind ourselves that most Israelis see everyone in Gaza as Hamas, which is why many of them endorse the bombing of schools, hospitals, places of worship, medics, journalists, pregnant women, children, babies in incubators, even the Al-Basma Fertility Centre that carried 4,000 frozen embryos and more than 1,000 samples of sperm and eggs. Gaza has been an open air prison for decades and it’s been under lockdown for 3yrs, what ‘arms’ does Miliband think Hamas has managed to accumulate during that time, other than makeshift explosives and rifles they’ve managed to take off IDF soldiers. The truth is, the only effective weapons that Gazan’s have are a journalists and a cameramen, which is why they are prime targets for the IDF.
When Miliband eventually describes the devastation in Gaza he offers conservative estimates on the loss of human life and he tells us the UK government supports a legal processes to determine if Israel has committed war crimes. He acknowledges that the question of genocide has been brought before the ICJ and adds… “I want to make it clear that we support the court in coming to it’s determination.” This is shying away from full agreement and, let’s be honest here, there was never any question that the UK government would ever question whether the ICJ should, or should not, have accepted this case. The British government is however unlikely to agree with an ICJ ruling of genocide because this would shine a light on their own complicity, and would put an end to all UK arms sales to Israel.
Miliband then talks about continuing to provide medical support in Gaza, including for child amputees, and inviting students from Gaza to the UK. Both crisis that the UK government have helped to create. Without a blanket ban on arms sales to, and intelligence sharing with, Israel, the UK government continue to be complicit in creating a health emergency right across Gaza, including the horrific injuries inflicted on children and a shocking mental health crisis. Targeted sanctions against “those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law,” feels more like deflection by a government that knows it’s actions are also being scrutinised in the court of public opinion, judged for being complicit in genocide and loyally supporting Israel’s flagrant disregards for humanitarian law.
Shockingly, Miliband then slips in that the UK government still supports Donald Trump’s notorious 20-point Gaza peace plan. A plan that includes, among other things, a “terror-free zone” inside Gaza, a so-called “security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat,” a suspension (not an end) to aerial and artillery bombardment, for Hamas to decommission their weapons and leave Gaza. The fact that it also mentions the lifting of the humanitarian aid blockade, including rehabilitation of infrastructure (water, electricity, sewage, hospitals and bakeries), and the entry of necessary equipment to remove rubble and open roads is in itself a surprising admission of war crimes. Blocking aid ‘is’ a war crime under International humanitarian law. By endorsing the US plan, the UK government is also effectively asserting that Israel has a right to withhold aid to a captive civilian population, including children. How is this any different to Starmer’s position?
To be clear, Trumps plan puts governance of the strip in the hands of Trump’s so-called Board of Peace, headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump himself, and run by “a temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF)”, so, essentially a military occupation force of ‘allies’ (very likely including the IDF) deployed inside Gaza. By the way, other members of the Board of Peace include former UK Prime Minister (and war criminal) Tony Blair. These are not the sort of people one should entrust with the lives of 2 million vulnerable maimed and starving people, trapped inside a small strip of land.
Looping back to his primary concern, Miliband explains that the UK government is essentially backing a European initiative to use trade sanctions against illegal Israeli settlements in order to salvage the two state solution… “we will never have stability in the middle east without a two state solution,” he exclaims.
In reality, European governments are advocating for an impossible goal. They dismiss the single state solution because what they’re really advocating for is to simply maintain the status quo – Israel’s dominance in the region, something that they now fear is under real threat as support wanes, both abroad and locally. They also see that some regional players are challenging Israel’s dominance, and some are waking up to the new reality that US/Israel alliances in the region are extremely vulnerable to attack.
Global public opinion toward Israel has significantly changed over the last 3yrs as people have witnessed the horror of a live stream genocide, and the glee with which Israeli ministers and IDF soldiers slaughtered and starved hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children. To many, the cruelty Israel inflicted was unimaginable until they witnessed it on their screens. Miliband and some Europeans counterparts appear to be concerned that the hope of a single state solution has now kicked the two state narrative into the long grass. What I see here is a desperate and cynical move to get the two state solution back on track. There is very little in the Miliband speech, that will make any material difference to the realities on the ground for ordinary Palestinian in Gaza or the West Bank. The government is still refusing to end arms sales to Israel. The intelligence sharing with Israel will not stop. The blockade on Gaza will continue, the occupation will continue, and political protection for Israel will also continue. This is NOT change! In fact, this is a last ditch concerted effort to stop change.
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