Several British members of parliament expressed their criticism of the Israeli new government, calling for recognizing Palestine ahead of Netanyahu’s visit to London on Thursday, March 23, 2023.

On Thursday, ten members of the British Parliament signed a letter urging the UK’s prime minister not to roll out the red carpet for Netanyahu’s visit at this time.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is presiding over a right-wing government … which seeks to promote settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territories,” the letter read, condemning the conduct of Netanyahu’s ministers.

The letter pointed out that the timing of the UK’s invitation to the Israeli PM is surprising given Netantahu’s government has just said that Josep Borell, EU policy chief, is not welcome in Israel.

In addition, the letter urged UK’s PM to challenge Netanyahu over violations of international law that included settlement expansion and demolition of Palestinian homes.

Earlier on Friday, Richard Burgon, a Labout PM,  called on the UK PM Rishi Sunak to take action to help end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. 

“Israel’s new government is intensifying the oppression of the Palestinian people – one Minister even recently denied their very existence,” he tweeted.

Ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, British MPs made several statements calling for recognizing the Palestinian state and condemning racist statements by Israeli ministers.

“Denying the existence of Palestinian people and calling for villages to be wiped out takes the level of rhetoric to a new level of unacceptability,” British MP Alistair Carmichael stated.

He also pointed out that with people like [Smotrich] now at the heart of Netanyahu’s government, it’s imperative to do ‘what we can to offer some protection to the Palestinian people’ by recognizing the Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, Andy McDonald stated, “We cannot keep going with the same endless warm words around this conflict and the time has come for this government or recognize the state of Palestine.

Showing more extremism and racism, Netanyahu’s new government has received criticism from multiple international forums and institutions.

The Israeli new government has escalated violence against the Palestinian people, sanctions, and prisoners since the start of 2023. Israeli forces and settlers killed up to 90 Palestinians so far this year.