Council may withdraw from Israel-linked investments

Councillors in Birmingham have voted for a proposal to seek to withdraw from any financial investments linked to Israel.

The motion was proposed by independent councillor Nosheen Khalid, who is a member of the Better Birmingham Group which is part of the ruling coalition, and the council's cabinet member for health and social care.

Despite a ceasefire coming into force in Gaza in October 2025, Israel has continued air strikes almost every day. More than 1,500 people have been killed, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

The conflict was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Since then, more than 74,000 have been killed in Gaza, according to the area's health ministry, many of them civilians.

Israel says it is targeting Hamas operatives and accuses Hamas of continued violations of the ceasefire.

Referring to the war in Gaza, Khalid said that "where money goes, responsibility follows" and called for a six-month review of the investments made by Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands Pension Fund, with options for the council to withdraw from those connections on human rights grounds.

There were cheers from some in the council chamber when the motion was carried.

The proposal comes after three Birmingham Labour MPs last week urged the Liberal Democrats to leave the city council's power-sharing coalition if Green Party cabinet members did not disown a motion declaring Zionism a form of racism - a policy adopted at the Greens' national party conference in October.

Passed by Green Party members last month, the motion describes Zionism as an ideology supporting "an ethnonationalist Jewish state" and instead backs "a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine".

The policy has divided senior Green politicians and attracted criticism from many Jewish groups and across much of the UK political spectrum.

In a letter to Liberal Democrat council leader Roger Harmer, Labour MPs Al Carns, Jess Phillips and Preet Gill called on councillors to publicly denounce the Greens' policy.

Earlier in Tuesday's meeting, Harmer was asked whether he remained committed to the coalition between the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Khalid's independent group.

He reaffirmed his commitment to the arrangement, provided all parties continued to abide by the Fairer Birmingham Partnership Agreement signed after May's local elections, when no party secured overall control of the council.

Harmer also reiterated his disagreement with the Green Party's position on Zionism.

He has previously said the election result made forming an administration "incredibly difficult" and that the partnership was designed to provide stable governance for Birmingham until the next local elections.

In a statement, Birmingham Greens said councillors remained committed to representing all of the city's faiths and communities, as well as the Fairer Birmingham Partnership Agreement.

The statement added: "We will also continue to stand in opposition to genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid and the illegal occupation. We look to a future where Palestinians, Israelis and indeed all communities can be free, secure and prosperous.

"We do not believe these things are in conflict."

Israel's leaders have consistently rejected allegations of genocide, and say its military's operations in Gaza have been conducted in self-defence, to defeat Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.

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