A large majority of Labour Party members support a full arms embargo on Israel and a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements, according to new polling that highlights growing pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer as his leadership comes under renewed scrutiny.
The survey, commissioned by Save the Children UK, Christian Aid and Medical Aid for Palestinians as part of the Ally to Atrocities campaign , found that 78% of Labour members support a complete halt to arms exports to Israel.
It also found that 87% support banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, while 68% back suspending the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement .
The findings come amid mounting dissatisfaction within Labour over the government's approach to Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and follow a bruising set of local election results in which the party lost almost 1,500 council seats.
"These results demonstrate that the conflict is not a niche issue in a few constituencies but that Labour members care and are clearly not satisfied and want the UK Government to act," Jennifer Larbie, UK Influencing Lead at Christian Aid , told The New Arab .
"The UK should abide by its legal obligations and stop all arms exports to Israel and implement a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements. They must also ensure that all those who perpetrate atrocities are brought to justice," Larbie added.
The Ally to Atrocities campaign is calling on the government to suspend all arms transfers to Israel, including components used in F-35 fighter jets , halt the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement, ban trade with settlements in the occupied West Bank and pursue accountability for violations of international law.
The polling also found widespread dissatisfaction with the government's current position on the occupied Palestinian territory, with more than 60% of Labour members saying they were unhappy with its approach.
"This polling makes one thing clear: Labour Party members expect a fundamental shift in the UK Government's approach to the occupied Palestinian territory," Olive Gray, Conflict and Humanitarian Campaign Manager at Save the Children UK, told The New Arab. "There is strong backing for decisive action from their leadership; suspending all arms to Israel, including lethal F-35 fighter jet parts, banning trade with illegal settlements, and suspending the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement."
Gray said the findings pointed to a growing gap between the government's position and the views of many within its own party.
"The UK Government must finally end its complicity in these atrocities. To allow these horrors to unfold without accountability not only undermines international law, but is also a profound moral failure," she said.
"Preventing further harm demands urgent, concrete steps to be taken now, halting arms transfers, ending trade with illegal settlements, and upholding international law in practice, not just in empty words."
Ziad Issa, Head of Advocacy and Campaigns at Medical Aid for Palestinians, said the results reflected frustration with what campaigners see as the government's failure to take meaningful action.
"Over and over, the UK government has failed to impose meaningful consequences for Israel's repeated violations of international law, continued to transfer arms, including parts of F-35 fighter jets, and totally abandoned any effort to protect Palestinian lives," Issa told The New Arab. "This Government must now take long-overdue action to end its complicity and ensure accountability for Israel's atrocities," Issa said.
He added that the government's "continued inaction is not just a moral failure, it is a total abandonment of its obligations under international law".
"Anything less means this Government will remain an ally to Israel's atrocities," Issa said.
The findings come at a politically sensitive moment for Labour, with questions increasingly being raised about Starmer's leadership following the party's electoral setbacks and growing internal tensions.
Several senior Labour figures, including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, have been mentioned in media speculation about potential future leadership contests.
Streeting, who has recently spoken about obstacles to raising concerns over Israeli actions within government, has faced criticism from pro-Palestinian voices who argue Labour ministers have failed to challenge the UK's support for Israel strongly enough.
Labour MP Zarah Sultana was among those to criticise the Health Secretary, saying he had been "part of a cabinet that armed and supported a genocidal apartheid Israeli state".
Meanwhile, Labour MP Emily Thornberry has faced backlash over comments on Gaza after an October 2023 interview resurfaced in which she declined to describe Israel's blockade of the territory as a breach of international law.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also criticised attempts by some politicians to retrospectively distance themselves from the war, writing on X that it was "too little, too late" to be "pretending" they had always opposed it.