Oxford Union votes ‘Israel’ as “greater threat to stability than Iran”

• The Oxford Union debating society voted overwhelmingly in favor of the motion declaring that ‘Israel’ is a greater threat to regional stability than Iran.
• Proponents, including former Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, argued ‘Israel’s’ policies fuel instability, while the opposition focused on Iran's aggression via its regional proxies.

The prestigious Oxford Union debating society has voted overwhelmingly in favor of a motion declaring ‘Israel’ a greater threat to regional stability than Iran.

The motion, worded as "Israel is a greater threat to regional stability than Iran," pitted proponents arguing ‘Israel's’ policies fuel instability against opponents who emphasized Iran's aggressive actions.

This event follows a pattern of contentious ‘Israel’-related debates at the Union, including a vote last year affirming ‘Israel’ as an "apartheid state responsible for genocide" by a margin of 278 to 59.

Speaking for the proposition in the debate held on Thursday at the at the 202-year-old institution, Mohammad Shtayyeh, who served as Palestinian Authority prime minister from 2019 to 2024, described ‘Israel’ as an "expansionist colonial state" established by colonial powers and operating as a "pariah state" above international law.

He accused ‘Israel’ of disregarding UN resolutions, maintaining a nuclear arsenal, enforcing apartheid, committing genocide, and imposing a brutal occupation that drags the region into repeated wars, saying some ‘Israeli’ leaders envision borders stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates.

On the opposition side, Hillel Neuer, director of the watchdog group UN Watch, rejected the motion as an "inversion of reality."

He argued that true threats to stability are measured by initiators of wars, not defenders, pointing to Iran's arming of proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis across multiple Arab countries.

Union members ultimately sided with the proposition in what was described as an "overwhelming" vote, though exact tallies have not been formally released by the society.

Reactions were swift and critical from pro-‘Israel’ voices. Neuer later posted on social media labeling the motion "deep satire”.