During Foreign Office Questions this week Conservative MPs condemned Palestinian terror groups and called for the Government to promote dialogue and peaceful co-existence projects as the best way to secure peace in Israel and the region.
Caroline Ansell MP underlined in a question to Middle East Minister Rt. Hon. Andrew Murrison MP: “Any unified and prosperous Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel is unrealistic as long as the Hamas terror group continues to be committed to the destruction of Israel”.
She asked: “Will my right hon. Friend join me in calling for renewed international pressure on Hamas to renounce violence and to disarm?”
In a separate question, the MP for Eastbourne asked the Minister whether he shared her view that “unless and until peaceful co-existence is taught, championed and modelled in Palestinian schools, any peace deal with Israel will be short-lived?”
In response, Mr Murrison agreed and said a political solution remains a “huge priority”, adding that he spoke recently to the Palestinian Education Minister about inappropriate material used in schools.
Jack Lopresti emphasised support for “initiatives that promote dialogue and coexistence” such as the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, “as well as ensuring that UK taxpayers’ money is not misdirected”.
CFI Parliamentary Chairman (Commons) Rt. Hon. Stephen Crabb MP emphasised that “Iran has launched major cyber-attacks against the UK, including on this Parliament”, and that “it has used its warships to harass our fleets in the Gulf and it has supported a huge arms build-up in the Middle East”. He asked: “Where is the evidence that Iran can be a trusted partner for peace?”
Philip Hollobone MP said in a question to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab that the US Peace to Prosperity plan “is a set of serious and constructive proposals which deserves more than instant rejection”.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Tuesday reiterated the Government’s support for the US peace plan as a basis for renewed talks, pointing out that “the Saudis, the Egyptians and the Omanis and Qatar” have all given statements of support for the new US peace proposals as a “first step on the road to negotiations that can resolve the conflict”.
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