UK Prime Minister pledges support for an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace

Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledges support for an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace this week and commits to host an inaugural meeting in London

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, December 2, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Prime Minister of the UK, Sir Keir Starmer, has pledged his support for the establishment of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. In a key new commitment made at Labour Friends of Israel’s Annual Lunch, he also pledged that the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, will host an inaugural meeting in London as part of this effort.

The pledge follows a private meeting with Ibrahim Abu Ahmed and Barak Talmor - two peacebuilders from the ALLMEP network of 160+ peacebuilding NGOs - alongside ALLMEP’s Executive Director John Lyndon and Policy Coordinator Rachael Liss. During the meeting, Prime Minister Starmer heard about the work being done on the ground to advocate for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, and to build a more peaceful, secure and just future for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Taking to the stage afterwards, Prime Minister Starmer said, “I met some of those peacebuilders just a moment ago in the room next door. They are doing incredible work, and continue to do so,” before pledging that he has long supported “the establishment of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. I reiterate that support today. And the Foreign Secretary will convene an inaugural meeting in London to support civil society in the region, as part of that work to negotiate a two-state solution. We will work for peace, every step of the journey.”

The International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian is modelled on a similar instrument that helped shape the societal and political conditions leading to the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. It aims to institutionalise and coordinate support from multiple donor states via a single mechanism that can operate at the same scale as the conflict itself. The goal is to pool resources and expertise to radically scale the work of Israeli and Palestinians peacebuilders, producing the ideas, movements and leaders needed to create the societal conditions required for genuine conflict resolution.

The UK was the first country to officially endorse the concept in 2018, and it has since become a policy commitment for Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Today’s commitment to convene a meeting in London on this priority marks a significant step forward. It also builds upon the 2024 G7 Leaders Communique, in which the UK and other G7 partners committed to “working together—and with other international partners—to closely coordinate and institutionalise our support for civil society peacebuilding efforts, ensuring that such efforts are part of a larger strategy to build the foundation necessary for a negotiated and lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace.”

Speaking after the meeting, ALLMEP’s Executive Director John Lyndon thanked the Prime Minister for his commitment adding, “We look forward to working with him, his team, and with the Foreign Secretary on this important London convening. It is a chance for the UK to lead with its G7 partners, allies in the region and with peacebuilders as core stakeholders on a civil society strategy that transforms the current dynamic, putting the values of peace, equality and security into action –at the sort of scale that can truly move the needle.”

Rachael Liss
Alliance for Middle East Peace
rachael@allmep.org
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