The Attorney General has suggested Israel’s actions in the West Bank and Gaza could “amount to apartheid”.

In 2023, Lord Hermer signed an open letter claiming Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is led by a “far-Right” coalition and that the international court in The Hague could rule its actions meet the legal definition of apartheid.

The letter called on James Cleverly, the then foreign secretary, not to oppose proceedings in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) investigating Israel’s “illegal” policies in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.

Organised by Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights and the Balfour Project, it said: “The Israeli government is led by a coalition of far-Right parties whose common goal is the formal annexation of the West Bank and the extension of a one-state reality of unequal rights over more than five million Palestinians under occupation.

“It is perfectly possible that the Court will consider aspects of that situation to amount to apartheid.”

In July, the ICJ ruled Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories was unlawful and should end, but did not explicitly label it as apartheid.

One of two Jewish Cabinet members, Lord Hermer has publicly reiterated his belief in Israel’s right to self-defence.

But the emergence of his past endorsement of a controversial stance has raised doubts about his ability to provide the kind of unbiased advice Sir Keir Starmer apparently sought when he appointed him to the role.

Lord Wolfson, the shadow attorney general, told The Telegraph that, on the issue of Israel and the Middle East, the Prime Minister is “getting advice from someone – the Attorney General – who has a very particular position which he has strongly advocated for some time”.