Are the Tories cooling on their support for Israel?

The language in the government and parliament over Israel has changed a lot this week. Ministers are no longer mounting the full throttle defence of Israel or offering regular reminders to the Commons of what happened on 7 October. Lord Cameron’s evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday was just one example of that: the Foreign Secretary said that ‘of course’ he was ‘worried that Israel has taken action that might be in breach of international law’. He also repeated the line that ‘too many civilians have died’, and reminded Israel that it needed to do more to avert a famine in Gaza. Similarly, when Rishi Sunak was asked about Gaza at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, he merely said that ‘Israel plans to act within international humanitarian law and has the ability to do so.’

On Monday, the Commons heard a statement from Cameron’s deputy Andrew Mitchell, who handles foreign affairs in the lower chamber because his boss is in the Lords.