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Politics Home Article | Rachel Reeves Says Progressive People Should Be Zionists
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said progressive people should “unapologetically” be Zionists.
Reeves was the keynote speaker at Labour Friends of Israel’s annual dinner on Monday, attended by senior ministers including Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and backbench MPs. She was the first chancellor to address the event since Gordon Brown in 2007.
Speaking at the reception in London, Reeves told the audience that Zionism – the support for a Jewish homeland – should be backed by all progressive people and governments.
She said: “We must speak out, because every word has consequences and every silence has too. That means that we must not tacitly accept the distortion that Zionism is something that has to be apologised for, or, worse yet, a label to be surrendered to conspiracy theorists and antisemites.
“The progressive friends of Israel, whatever their criticism of particular governments, must be willing to say, unapologetically, I am a Zionist.
“I am a Zionist not in spite of my belief in democracy or freedom and equality, but exactly because of those beliefs.”
Reeves also used her 30-minute address to criticise the Israeli government’s military response to the Hamas attack of October 7 2023, when 1,200 Israelis were murdered and a further 251 abducted. The subsequent war in Gaza has seen more than 60,000 Palestinians killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
“The actions of the Israeli government are not and must not be beyond criticism,” Reeves said. “This Labour government has not shied away from that. The scenes from Gaza on our television are shocking, and they’re heartbreaking.
“No parent doesn’t feel pain and empathy when they see other people’s children suffer.”
Reeves praised the fragile ceasefire negotiated by President Donald Trump in October, which saw the release of all the living hostages. She described it as a “glimmer of hope” for the region.
“The joy and the relief we all felt when we saw the hostages back home in Israel with their families and loved ones, that much-needed space to get more aid flowing into Gaza to meet the plight of its people, and the opportunity to begin the phase of reconstruction.”
Reeves said she had not forgotten the “shame” and “disgust” she felt when Labour was put under special measures by the European and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for antisemitism within the party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.
Reeves, who was a backbencher in 2020, said Labour was “polluted” with antisemitism.
“Keir [Starmer] and I have not forgotten how difficult those years were. I haven’t forgotten the shame, the dismay and frankly, the disgust that I felt as the Labour Party, my party, all of our party, was polluted by antisemitism.”
She added: “The hurt that was done to so many good friends.
“One of the core reasons that I entered the shadow cabinet under Keir’s leadership, and why I’m so proud to serve under Keir’s leadership today, is because of the work that he did to address those problems, to tear antisemitism out of Labour by the roots.”
