The UK parliament’s Westminster Hall saw a highly unusual debate on Monday evening on a petition to “call a public inquiry into pro-Israel influence on politics & democracy”.

The petition, which received more than 118,000 signatures from members of the public, said: “We are concerned about reported Israeli state-linked and pro-Israel lobbying activity in UK politics. We believe it is important to determine the scope and impact of any such influence campaigns.” Petitions to parliament which receive more than 100,000 signatures are always debated on.

However, this debate consisted mainly of Conservative and Labour MPs who are members of pro-Israel groups saying the petition was antisemitic, while a minority who spoke in favour of it posed detailed questions about lobbying and transparency which went unanswered.

James Frith, a government minister and the parliamentary under-secretary of state for digital government, said that “the government do not support a public inquiry solely on pro-Israeli influence”. He further said: “We should condemn the readiness, ease and tendency to hold 300,000 British Jews collectively accountable for the actions of the Israeli government.”

At that point, Independent MP Adnan Hussain stood up and said: “Can I ask the minister why so many in this house, including himself, conflate the Jewish faith and Jewish people with the actions of the state of Israel?”