Labour’s Revolting Over Israel

As the Labour Party descends further into student union gesture politics, it is perhaps appropriate that the last backbench rebellion before the election is set to be over Israel and the Palestinians. As James has pointed out on Coffee House, disgruntled Labour MPs are preparing for battle over the issue of universal jurisdiction, which blew up when an arrest warrant was issued for former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni.
Not to be outdone, the Jewish Chronicle will be splashing on the story tomorrow and has already put the story up on its website. I had it on very good authority that the government will announce the law change next week. 
The government will almost certainly need Tory support to push this through. More than 60 Labour MPs have already signed an Early Day Motion opposing the change. 
It will be interesting to see how Justice Secretary Jack Straw will justify this to his old friends at the Muslim Council of Britain, or indeed his constituents.