Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Members of the Green Party of England and Wales have voted to call for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation. The IDF is the national military of the State of Israel.

Attendees at the Green Party of England and Wales overwhelmingly backed a motion which called for the proscription of the IDF.

Proscribing the IDF would make both membership of and expressing support for the IDF a criminal offence in the UK. The motion also called for Israel to “fully withdraw all troops from Gaza and end surveillance and military operations in Palestinian airspace”, for “the provision of sustainable aid, food, water, baby formula, and resources required to help rebuild civilian life” and for the UK government to use its shipping resources to deliver that aid.

Later, the motion also said that “The UK should formally apologise to the people of Palestine for the Balfour Declaration” and “there should be a UN peacekeeping force in the West Bank & Gaza to ensure the safety of Palestinian residents.”

Alongside this, the motion called on the party’s elected representatives to push for the UK government and other democratic bodies to “support and resource the international case of genocide against Israel at the International Criminal Court”, to “implement a full arms embargo on Israel” and to “end the training of Israeli soldiers by British forces, and end the spy plane flights over Gaza from the British military base in Cyprus.”

Image credit: 10 Downing Street – Creative Commons

This motion is jointly published with Left Foot Forward