Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has clashed with Live Aid organiser Sir Bob Geldof over the Middle East crisis as she doubled down on her support for Israel.
The pair were the top guests on Sky News’ Sunday morning show with Sir Trevor Philips and were both asked about the current crisis in Gaza where thousands are facing starvation, with Geldof accusing the Israeli government of ‘lying’ over the aid situation.
On Sunday, Israel announced a “pause in fighting” to enable aid to get into Gaza while the UK is set to take up the opportunity to airdrop food into the embattled warzone.
But when asked about Israeli government claims that there are hundreds of trucks full of aid waiting to get into Gaza being held up by United Nations incompetence and Hamas, he hit out at Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.
“The Israeli authorities are lying,” he claimed. “They’re lying. Netanyahu is a liar. The IDF are lying.”
The Israeli government has denied being at fault after reports more than 110 people have died of hunger during the conflict, blaming Hamas for “stealing aid and prolonging the war”.
Sir Bob, who is marking 40 years since his Live Aid concerts to raise money for mass starvation in Ethiopia, said that he felt given his history and ongoing work on helping to tackle poverty he had a right to speak out now on the unfolding crisis.
Asked about Israelis protesting against the Netanyahu government, he suggested: “If Israelis want to protest: get in your cars, stuff your cars full of food, drive through that border and let your own army stop you.”
Sir Bob branded Hamas “disgusting” but claimed that “we are well beyond” the attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October 2023. He also branded calls for the UK to recognise Palestine as a state “a distraction that is not going to make any material difference”.
The interviews took place after new polling by More in Common for the Sunday Times shows UK voters are more likely to sympathise with Palestine than Israel by 29 per cent to 15 per cent.
When Sir Bob’s remarks were put to her by Sir Trevor, Ms Badenoch said he was wrong.
She said: “I disagree with that. What I’m seeing is Israel allowing humanitarian aid to go in. This has been an unbelievably difficult situation. It’s been heartbreaking, seeing some of the pictures, hearing those stories, and what we all want to see is this awful coming to an end, and that will happen when those hostages are released. We need a ceasefire.”
It was pointed out that Ms Badenoch is one of the few political leaders to have grown up in a country at war referencing her childhood in Nigeria.
Ms Badenoch also dismissed the More in Common polling and how her support for Israel appeared to be against the prevailing public view.
She said: “I’m somebody who believes in looking at what’s actually happening. What are the facts and how do we make sure we’re always doing the right thing? The right thing is for there to be a ceasefire.
“A lot of people are suffering on both sides, but we must forget how this started. October 7, a massacre occurred. It was an act of war. There are still people who are being held hostage, and they need to be brought home.
“All of this could be brought to an end, except that those territories are being by a terrorist organisation [Hamas].”
Israel has denied that it is causing famine in Gaza and insisted instead there is a “a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas”.
An Israeli security official told Sky News that “despite the false claims that are being spread, the State of Israel does not limit the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip”.
A spokesman for the IDF added: “The IDF allows the American civilian organisation (GHF) to distribute aid to Gaza residents independently, and operates in proximity to the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip.
“Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned. The aforementioned incidents are under review by the competent authorities in the IDF.”
Keir Starmer is set to make the Gaza crisis one of the top priorities with his discussions with Donald Trump on Monday at the US president’s Turnberry golf course.
