Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor: Citizenship
Thursday, 17 September 2026
Contributions
Question
Asked by
Baroness Chakrabarti
To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they have made representations to the government of Israel regarding the citizenship of documentary film directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Wood of Anfield) (Lab)
My Lords, we support freedom of expression, including artistic freedom. We have not made representations to the Government of Israel, but we expect any action affecting an individual’s citizenship or civil rights to be conducted in accordance with the rule of law and with due process. Democracy and the rule of law are among Israel’s founding values. These are vital to a secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.
Baroness Chakrabarti (Lab)
I am grateful to my noble friend the Minister, not least because I know of his long-term commitment to the arts in general and filmmaking, I think, in particular. I wonder how we remind ourselves, let alone persuade friends and allies, that in a democracy dissent is not disloyalty but the test of democratic values. Given the excellent debate on the first Question, on G20 priorities, can my noble friend say a little more on Foreign Office work and priorities around promoting rights and freedoms in general?
Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for that question and pay tribute to her long-standing commitment to rights, freedoms and the rule of law for many years. She is absolutely right that dissent is the test of the health of democracy, and we remain concerned about reports of threats and intimidation directed at journalists, filmmakers and others. I am pleased to say that the Foreign Office takes media freedom extremely seriously. We chair a coalition on media freedom. My ministerial friend Chris Elmore talked about this issue to the Foreign Affairs Committee in recent months. It is going to continue to be a priority, not just in the Middle East but elsewhere.
Lord Polak (Con)
My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, should know better before submitting such Questions. Any revoking of Israeli citizenship requires the Interior Minister, the Attorney-General and a court to independently agree, and the noble Baroness knows that no such proceedings have been opened. Does the Minister agree, as the film itself received a 25-minute standing ovation in Venice, and the filmmakers were free to make and screen a film fiercely—and I say fiercely—criticising their own Government, that this episode shows the strength and well-being of press freedom and democratic debate in Israel and should be praised by all noble Lords and His Majesty’s Government?
Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)
I start by wishing the noble Lord and all other Jewish Members of our Chamber a happy new year. He is right that Israel, for example, is a signatory to both the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, as we are. I note that the Israeli Prime Minister last night made remarks about possible future legislation, but we do not comment on that; we will see what transpires. The noble Lord is also completely right that there is a venerable and admirable tradition of robust free speech and exchange, and we hope that that tradition remains in place.
Baroness Deech (CB)
My Lords, I hope the Minister will agree that it is indeed inappropriate to focus on a state where there is a stringent judicial process—we do not want discrimination. On the international front, things are even worse. In a few days’ time, the United Nations Durban conference will be marking the 25th anniversary of the World Conference against Racism, which turned out to be an antisemitism and anti-Israel conference. Can the Minister confirm—because I have written to the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister about this—that Britain will not participate in the upcoming Durban conference?
Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)
I thank the noble Baroness for that. I will have to return on the question of participation in future conferences. On the broader question of government action on antisemitism, I explained in the House last week that over £300 million has been committed to attacking and addressing antisemitism at home. Antisemitism is unacceptable. It is a scourge of any society, especially democratic society. At UNGA, in our upcoming event hosted by the Foreign Secretary in New York, we are going to focus more on this, and there will be more to say from the Government in due course on antisemitism.
Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD)
My Lords, the Israeli military initially responded to “NAZA” by saying that it categorically rejects the allegations, but, in a later statement, it said that “the allegations required a detailed, evidence-based response rather than a blanket dismissal”, which I think most people would agree was the correct response. But is there not a danger for Israel in having a Minister who has suggested that he is going to move to remove citizenship? If that happened and it was challenged in court, would there not be a real danger that the personnel in the movie, who are anonymised at the moment, would be identified, and that would discredit the process and, indeed, embarrass the Government of Israel?
Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)
The noble Lord raises a number of complex hypothetical issues around this, and they may or may not transpire, but they are matters for Israeli courts, Israeli politics and Israel in general rather than for me.
Lord Callanan (Con)
My Lords, building on the question from my noble friend Lord Polak, as the noble Lord acknowledged, Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. It has robust rule-of-law provisions. I wonder what steps the Government are taking to establish those exact provisions in the rest of the Middle East, including Iraq, Iran, Syria and all these other Arab countries.
Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)
I thank the noble Lord for that. I am not sure whether he remembers the announcements made last week about taking extremely robust action: sanctions against the financing arm of Hezbollah, and further sanctions actions against Iran in the transport, energy and other sectors supporting its attempted nuclear programme, and on vessels that transport materials for it. In other states where there is terrorism and hostility to the UK and our allies, we are taking robust action in the hope that, in the future, democracy may take root.
Baroness O’Grady of Upper Holloway (Lab)
My Lords, last month, the union of Palestinian journalists documented 108 attacks by Israeli forces and settlers on journalists and media workers in the occupied West Bank. Those attacks included detention, beatings and seizure of media equipment. Will my noble friend the Minister support the Palestinian trade union of journalists in calling for all media workers to be able to work free from intimidation and violence and for those responsible to be held accountable?
Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for that. She is absolutely right that attacks on all journalists are a matter of grave concern. We are very concerned by the high death toll of journalists in Gaza. Reporters covering conflicts should be and must be afforded protection under international humanitarian law. Access to conflict zones is vital for the media to carry out their role effectively—a role that we all depend on.
Lord Pannick (CB)
My Lords, the Minister rightly recognised that, in Israel, independent filmmakers can and do produce work that is highly critical of their own Government. Are the Government taking any steps to ensure that independent filmmakers can do precisely that in Gaza, the West Bank or any other state without suffering appalling consequences? Can I also recommend to the Minister and, indeed, to the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, the new fifth season of the award-winning Israeli drama “Fauda”, which deals with the appalling events of 7 October and their aftermath?
Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)
I thank the noble Lord for that. I am a “Fauda” fan, and I have not got to the fifth season yet, but I will do; I appreciate the pointer. On establishing freedom for artistic expression and freedom of speech in the West Bank and Gaza, there is, unfortunately, limited ability for us to influence what is happening at the moment in Gaza, but in the West Bank we are working with the Palestinian Authority to help cement reforms and support the development of democracy and the rule of law.
Lord Leigh of Hurley (Con)
My Lords—
Lord Cashman (Non-Afl)
My Lords, I am non-affiliated, so it is my turn. Notwithstanding the due process referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Polak, does the Minister agree that, when a senior member of a Government threatens to withdraw citizenship, that can have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and, indeed, artistic expression? I would like to widen this slightly further: will he now take action against the Turkish Government for arresting LGBT activists and LGBT people merely for expressing their right to live and exist?
Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)
I thank my noble friend. I have raised the issue on LGBT activists with my Turkish counterparts. On the general question, I do not think it is appropriate to respond to individual comments of politicians in other countries. At this stage, I will leave it at that.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5409258.