Lord Lemos (Lab)

Let me try to deal with some of the points my noble friend has raised. Frankly, I would not want to single out a particular community as having made a greater contribution to this country than any other. But I absolutely recognise the contribution the Jewish community has made to this nation’s life, sometimes in the most difficult circumstances for that community. I stand absolutely four-square behind my own admiration for the Jewish community in Britain. On Hezbollah and demilitarising, let me be absolutely clear. The Government do not think Hezbollah has any place in the future of Lebanon. That is our view. On decommissioning Hamas, our view is that we want to strengthen the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian governance. That is why we have taken the steps we have to support the Palestinian Authority. We have given it £10 million this year. We want to deliver some basic services. We are funding 5,300 health professionals in Palestine. My noble friend Lord Barber—Michael Barber—is working there too. The thing I really want to stress, in relation to what my noble friend Lord Anderson said, is the importance of civil society. When I travel in that region, many people in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, and so on, do not share the views of their Governments and the various actors in the areas. Tomorrow, I am happy to say, the Foreign Secretary, along with Canada and Australia, will launch a peacebuilding fund that seeks to work specifically with civil society in Israeli and Palestinian communities. I greatly welcome that.