Israel prevents British Jewish MP and Labour Party colleague from entering occupied West Bank
Israel prevents British Jewish MP and Labour Party colleague from entering occupied West Bank
Two British MPs travelling to the occupied West Bank to observe medical and humanitarian work have been denied entry to Israel.
Peter Prinsley, who is an observant Jew, and his Labour Party colleague, Simon Opher, said they were part of a delegation organised by the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU).
The pair were due to meet British diplomats in Jerusalem, as well as Palestinian and Israeli rights groups.
Their denial of entry into the occupied West Bank comes just days after Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited London and met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
During his trip, the British attorney general even rejected an application for an arrest warrant for Herzog.
Hamish Falconer, the UK's Middle East minister, said on Wednesday it was "unacceptable" that Israel denied the MPs entry to the country.
"I have remained in contact with both colleagues throughout and I have been clear with the Israeli authorities that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians," he said.
Unacceptable that two more British MPs have been denied entry to the Occupied Palestinian Territories by Israel.
— Hamish Falconer MP (@HFalconerMP) September 16, 2025
I have remained in contact with both colleagues throughout and I have been clear with the Israeli authorities that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians.
A general practitioner by vocation, Opher chairs an all-party parliamentary group on health, while Prinsley worked as an NHS surgeon.
Opher told the BBC both MPs were held in a passport office and then "escorted to a bus" back to Jordan.
He said: "It's very disappointing. We are both doctors and we were really just going to look at healthcare facilities in the West Bank to see if there was anything we could do to support them."
He said they were denied entry under "public order" grounds.
"We weren't in any way trying to undermine the Israelis, just trying to see what we could do in the West Bank," Opher said.
On Wednesday morning, Health Secretary Wes Streeting condemned Israel's decision, saying: "I find the treatment of two highly respected clinicians and Members of Parliament by the Israeli government shameful, but no longer surprising."
The prime minister and foreign secretary have not yet commented.
CAABU director Chris Doyle said that "visiting the occupied Palestinian territory and seeing humanitarian and medical projects should not be subject to an Israeli veto".
In April, two other Labour MPs, Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang, were also refused entry to Israel in a move that then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy slammed as "unacceptable, counterproductive and deeply concerning".
