Glum Boris keeps it bland on Israel

IF I had a pound for every Commons debate on Israel and the Palestinians I had sat through, and another pound for every backbencher’s earnest, well-made but ultimately pointless intervention, I would have enough for a ticket to Tel Aviv.

You might ask how I would survive, on arrival at Ben Gurion, deprived of the opportunity to hear what the honourable member for South-West Wiltshire or Sunderland Central thinks about settlements, developments in aviation or the stalled peace talks.

This was a question I asked myself on Monday as I sat listening to Boris Johnson and a couple of dozen other MPs raising exactly those points to mark the centenary of the Balfour declaration.

The Foreign Secretary was unusually sombre. No histrionics, no Latin-laden jokes, just careful, bland responses to questions asked in good faith.

Don’t get me wrong — there were some impressive interventions from across the house. Luciana Berger’s inquiry about the disgusting treatment of Israeli judokas in Abu Dhabi last week, where their flag and national anthem were banned as they collected medals, was pointed and topical.

The SNP’s Philippa Whitford, who has worked as a doctor in the Palestinian territories, compared — unfavourably — her latest visit to the West Bank to her 18 months in Gaza in the early 1990s. It was a brilliant example of what MPs can bring to Westminster: first-hand experience, life-long dedication to an issue, and a measured approach.

Minutes later, at the Board of Deputies’ excellent cross-party Balfour reception — held in the splendour of the Speaker’s House — Mr Johnson chatted politely to Maureen Lipman before rehashing two minutes’ worth of his Commons statement for a new crowd.

I spent much of the evening brimming with frustration. Good people, interesting debate — and more sleight of hand than a Tommy Cooper show.

On matters of genuine global importance — such as the settlements, or the recognition of Palestinian statehood — what do we get? Platitudes repeated ad infinitum. No wonder Boris looked glum. How much he must have wished to speak his mind.

It was the impressive Lib Dem, Layla Moran, the first MP of Palestinian descent to sit in the Commons, whose words had the most impact. “This is not a game,” she told the Foreign Secretary.

How refreshing it would be to have political leaders who offered straightforward answers to straightforward questions, be it on sexual harassment, Brexit or intractable foreign policy issues.