THB that Israel is a Greater Threat to Regional Stability than Iran Full debate

[applause]

>> Thank you, Mr. President.

>> [applause]

>> Thank you.

A friend of mine recently told me to

avoid making my first paper speech on a

controversial motion. So, it is a relief

to start with something as

uncontroversial as this.

I was also warned my employment options

might be limited if I went too hard on

Israel. So, I'm very sad to say that

Netanyahu's press office will sadly be

denying my application.

I would like to begin by thanking the

President once more for giving me the

opportunity to make my first paper

speech.

And what a motion to begin with. Few

propositions could be quite so

straightforward.

This house believes that Israel is a

greater threat to regional stability

than Iran.

And really, what a gift of of a motion

that is.

Israel makes the great the case for us

quite effortlessly.

Violation after violation of ceasefires,

repeated invasions and occupations,

broken promises, and acts of aggression

dressed up as defense. There has rarely

been an easier case to argue in this

chamber.

The dominant argument in

international relations discourse,

peddled for the last couple of decades

in the United States and the Western

world, is that Iran is the principal

threat and source of instability in the

Middle East. But it is essential to look

deeper and ask which state has launched

more destructive wars, attacked more of

its neighbors, and killed more

civilians. The uncomfortable answer is,

of course, Israel.

Never again will I be presented the

chance to argue for or against a nation

that proves my point for me, offering a

wealth of historical and recent

examples.

Imagine this, as Israel did 2 months

ago, striking Hamas peace negotiations

in an US-allied state while it was

hosting ceasefire talks to end your own

war.

It sounds surreal, but that is the

nature of Israel.

And looking to the past does not paint a

much rosier picture.

From killing British diplomats in the

bombing of the King David Hotel in

Jerusalem to providing military aid to

anti-Assad rebels as recently as 2018,

Israel has consistently posed an

existential threat to stability in the

Middle East.

Even those countries which leaders with

leaders with what President Trump gently

refers to as rough past, for instance,

South Africa and Syria, have seen their

figures moderate once in power. Trump

recently joked about Ahmed al-Shara,

Syria's current interim president, who

once had a $10 million US bounty on his

head for being a terrorist.

But Israel's [snorts] own leaders, whose

early years were defined by terrorism

against the colonial powers, sabotage

and espionage, never left those

tendencies behind. The terror tactics of

their pre-power years continued and in

some cases even intensified during their

time in office.

Look to the Sabra and Shatila massacre,

enabled by Israeli forces,

if you want proof of what those

so-called rough past produce in power.

Now, the opposition will insist that

Iran's nuclear program is the great

destabilizing force in the Middle East,

as Katie has already enlightened us. But

they will fail to tell you how Israel

got its own nuclear weapons. Israel

obtained them entirely without

international approval and at least

initially against the wishes of its own

sponsor, the United States.

France helped build the Dimona reactor

under the convenient label of a textile

factory. American source materials

featured in long-running allegations and

the NUMEC affair left open suspicions

about diverted US uranium.

All of this was done under a shroud of

deep secrecy

with Israel partnering with

South Africa.

With its own alleged apartheid policies

that treat Arab citizens as second-rate,

it is no wonder it is no wonder that the

two found so much in common.

After Kennedy, who had the audacity to

push for inspections of Dimona was

assassinated, US policy shifted and

later presidents quietly acquiesced.

The result, Israel's undeclared nuclear

arsenal, tied America to endless

entanglements, reinforced Arab fears of

a nuclear-armed outlier, and helped

drive other states, including Iran, to

seek their own deterrent.

At almost no point in its history has

Israel acted in very good faith when it

comes to peace. Consider the Lebanon

example. Into the In the 2006 war,

Israel dropped up to 4 million cluster

submunitions in the final 72 hours

alone, and that was 90% of its total

use. This was after the UN resolution

had already passed.

Or take Gaza. Even after the ceasefire

was agreed, the IDF, apparently curious

how

it stockpiles of Iran, dropped a few

delayed gifts before the truce fully

took hold.

You might like to think that these are

unfortunate one-offs. They are not.

Israel has a habit of killing ceasefires

almost the moment they are thought up.

In the month or so since the latest

ceasefire, Israeli attacks have killed

at least 242

Palestinians and injured more than 600.

And the pattern is brutally predictable.

On the 19th of October 2025, Israel

shattered the US-brokered Gaza truce

with a wave of strikes that killed 26

civilians across camps and homes,

including children.

Two days later, the Vice President of

the United States, J.D. Vance, jetted in

for a friendly visit.

While Washington pressed ahead with over

$10 billion in arms notifications this

year alone.

During the fragile 2025 January

ceasefire, Israel committed over 1,000

breaches, including air strikes on

civilian areas, areas, grounded

incursions and wrong along the yellow

line, and a total aid blockade that

choked off food, fuel, and medicine.

It then refused phase two, kept the

blockade, and killed hundreds of

Palestinians, including 270 women and

children.

And what followed? A $4 billion

emergency aid package, which included

expedited US deliveries, faster weapon

shipments, and Iron Dome upgrades as

Washington vetoed not one, not two, but

three UN resolutions calling for

restraint amid the chaos.

Israel is uniquely susceptible to

breaking ceasefires because conflict

keeps the weapons flowing. It ensures

the money, the visibility, and the

illusion of existential siege that

underwrites its foreign policy.

Without conflict, Israel has no leverage

over its allies. Stability, to put it

simply, threatens Israel's ambitions.

And what of Israel's relationships?

Israel is a bad friend. It stress tests

its alliances to breaking point,

brushing off US cautions, and

humiliating its partners in public.

Iran, for all of its flaws, at least

maintains a few enduring friendships.

Israel is a broken record player whose

only party trick is bombing its

neighbors and betraying its allies. For

years, under the ironically named

Operation Good Neighbor, Israel funneled

aid, cash, and weapons to anti-Assad

rebels, including groups affiliated with

the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's Syrian

branch.