Opinion
Israel had the right to ban British MPs – it is what the UK’s done in the past
Israel has no obligation to invite in politicians who seek to damage it from within
April 7, 2025 13:52
3 min read
Israel has no obligation to invite in politicians who seek to damage it from within
April 7, 2025 13:52When two little-known and insignificant Labour MPs, Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, were denied entry to Israel last week and deported after Israeli authorities accused them of intending to "document Israeli security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred" during their visit, the decision provoked immediate outrage from sections of the British political establishment.
Leading the charge was Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who condemned Israel’s decision and accused the Israeli government of suppressing free speech. Yet the irony was almost too much to bear. In 2018, Lammy himself declared that US President Donald Trump was "not welcome" in Britain –openly calling for the democratically elected leader of the free world and Britain's closest ally to be barred from entry. The inconsistency is stunning: barring two minor MPs nobody had previously heard of who are deeply hostile to Israel is, apparently, an unforgivable outrage, but barring the sitting president of the United States was framed as righteous moral action.
Labour’s double standards on border control, however, go back further than Lammy’s selective indignation. In 2008, under a Labour government, Israeli Likud politician Moshe Feiglin was denied entry to Britain. The then-Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, cited public safety concerns over Feiglin’s writings and speeches. He was given no right of appeal. His democratic office meant nothing; his ideological positions made him unwelcome.
Nor was Feiglin’s case isolated. Dutch politician Geert Wilders was also banned from entering Britain in 2009, turned away at Heathrow airport. The Labour government cited fears that Wilders' criticisms of Islam and his film Fitna might incite unrest. Only after a successful legal challenge was Wilders eventually allowed entry.
Other prominent figures have similarly been barred: Albania’s former Prime Minister Sali Berisha over alleged links to organised crime; French comedian Dieudonné for antisemitic incitement; American activist Louis Farrakhan for hateful and extremist rhetoric. Britain, like all sovereign democracies, has long exercised the right to deny entry to individuals it considers dangerous, destabilising, or simply unwelcome. The principle is well-established – until, it seems, Israel invokes it.
Israel, for its part, offered clear reasons for its decision. The two Labour MPs had openly advocated sanctions against Israeli ministers – a fact Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, later admitted on Sky News. They were accused of intending to use their visit to undermine and delegitimise Israel in the midst of an existential war. Critically, Israel offered them the right to appeal the decision in court – the same route Geert Wilders took in Britain. Yet Yang and Mohamed declined, perhaps fearing that any legal challenge would expose the true nature of their mission to public scrutiny.
Wilders’ criticisms of Islamic extremism, once deemed incendiary, have over time become a more mainstream concern across Europe. The Labour government of the day lacked the foresight to see it. In this case, however, the two MPs are not critics of extremism – they are critics of Israel itself, a democratic ally, fighting for its survival against terrorist organisations. One of them, Yang, even rose in Parliament to call for sanctions against two serving Israeli cabinet ministers. On what grounds could they seriously expect to be welcomed into Israel, particularly when Israeli authorities claim there was no credible evidence they were part of any official parliamentary delegation?
The truth about their trip will inevitably emerge in due course. Whether it was a political stunt dressed up as humanitarian concern, or something even more calculated, remains to be seen. But it is already clear that Israel acted well within its rights – and that the British government’s petulant outrage does little to cover itself in glory.
Meanwhile, Emily Thornberry’s performance on Sky News provided a telling insight into the mindset increasingly dominant within Labour’s ranks. Thornberry’s comments – defending the two MPs and accusing Israel of "imposing itself" on the region – were not just offensive; they revealed a deep and troubling ignorance of Middle Eastern realities. Her fantasy of a two-state solution without addressing Palestinian rejectionism, terrorism, or regional hostility, and her readiness to blame Israel almost exclusively for the conflict, betray a wilful naivety at best, or something more malicious at worst.
Israel is fighting for its survival, not for the approval of a British government increasingly captive to shallow moral posturing and historical amnesia. It has no obligation to invite in politicians who seek to damage it from within. Britain would do well to recall its own history before rushing to lecture others.
