Israel a greater threat to regional stability than Iran, Oxford Union votes
“Israel’s actions are above the law and do not respect UN resolutions, and also we know this aggressive state of Israel is nuclear armed and a centre of a regime based on apartheid.”
The Oxford Union voted overwhelmingly that “Israel is a greater threat to regional stability than Iran” in a debate on Thursday last week.
A large majority of 265-113 voted yes to the motion, which was debated first by two panels of speakers. For the proposition were Lincoln College’s Alex Webster, Jessica Rowe, former Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, and former Iranian culture minister Ata’ollah Mohajerani.
For the opposition were Hillel Neuer, international human rights lawyer and executive director of the UN Watch; Dominick Chilcott, Middle East specialist and former British ambassador to Turkey and Iran; St. John’s history student Katie Pannick, and St. Hugh’s history Master’s student William Rome.
Webster opened the proposition by saying that Israel was a larger threat to regional stability, as it holds more sway with global powers. “They get all of the guns but none of the consequences,” he added. Pannick responded by saying that Iran is “capable of systemic disruption” and also drew on the danger associated with its nuclear missile program.
Shtayyeh went on to describe Israel as an “expansionist, colonialist state.” In response to discussions of Iran’s nuclear weapons, he said Israel already possesses such arms, and asked, “Who is acting and who is reacting?”
PALESTINIAN PRIME Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh – refusing to recognize that Arab states have a right to defend their vital interests. (credit: ALAA BADARNEH/POOL VIA REUTERS)
Shtayyeh also said, “Israel acts above the law and does not respect UN resolutions, and also we know this aggressive state of Israel is… nuclear armed and a center of a colonial regime that is based on apartheid against the Palestinian people.”
Israel’s ‘apartheid’ and nuclear arms debated at Oxford
Neuer responded by discussing Iran’s role in destabilizing neighboring countries such as Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Gaza, noting that many of the aforementioned could prosper if it were not for Iran. Neuer also pointed out that the way in which Sunni Arab states intervened to block Iranian missiles during its attack on Israel shows that Iran is an existential threat. Chilcott followed a similar line, arguing about the danger posed by Iran’s proxy terror network, such as Hezbollah.
Following the debate, Neuer tweeted a reminder that speaker Ayatollah Mohajerani was a top regime official in Iran, serving as vice-president from 1989 to 1997, “when hundreds of assassinations of dissidents in Europe were attempted and committed on the orders of the Iranian regime.”
In 2023, the UK’s Metropolitan police was urged to prosecute Mohajerani over his advocating for the fatwa against Sir Salman Rushdie.
The Oxford Union has taken an anti-Israel stance over the last years. Most recently, in December 2024, the proposition that “Israel is an Apartheid State Responsible for Genocide” passed with a very large majority of 278 to 59.
