Where do the Conservative Party's two pro-Israel, right-wing leadership candidates stand on Gaza?

The elimination of former foreign minister - and relative centrist - James Cleverly from the Conservative Party leadership race on Wednesday left just two candidates - right-wingers Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick.

Badenoch, a former trade minister, came first with 42 out of 120 votes, while Jenrick followed closely behind with 41 in the fourth round in the leadership race with the winner set to be announced on 2 November.

Both candidates are viewed as strongly pro-Israel and on the right-wing of the Conservative Party.

The New Arab looks at their views on Gaza and other events in the Middle East.

Kemi Badenoch 

Badenoch is the favourite to win the election, according to the Conservative Home website, who is popular with both the members and MPs.

The politician has shown her support for Israel since the war on Gaza began a year ago, visiting the Israeli embassy on the anniversary of the 7 October attacks and describing the attacks as "terrorism".

"It is important that our government continues to stand strong with Israel and support the Jewish community in Britain," Badenoch wrote on X.

She also said that if she were leader she would have congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for ordering the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

"Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation and I think that being able to remove the leader of Hezbollah as they did will create more peace in the Middle East," she said.

Badenoch also indicated disapproval with the Labour government’s decision to halt 30 out of 350 arms exports to Israel, saying it was a "political decision", and expressed her shock about "the number of recent immigrants to the UK who hate Israel".

The Tory leadership contender recently faced criticism for saying that five pro-Gaza MPs, who formed The Independents parliamentary bloc, were elected "on the back of sectarian Islamist politics".

Robert Jenrick

Jenrick also proudly boasts his pro-Israel views, saying recently he would follow Donald Trump by moving the UK embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem if he were elected prime minister, a decision that would break with international consensus on the city.

"If the Foreign Office or the civil servants don't want to do it, I will build it myself," Jenrick told a Conservative Friends of Israel event last month.

The candidate also was accused of Islamophobia after calling for people who chant "Allahu Akbar" — a religious statement used in Muslim prayer — to be arrested following far-right riots in the UK in August.

When serving as immigration minister, Jenrick reportedly intervened to ask the Home Office about whether it would be possible to revoke the visa of Palestinian student Dana Abu Qamar in October after protesting at a pro-Gaza event at the University of Manchester.

He again made his views clear on the issue in Gaza - where at least 42,000 Palestinians have been killed - by wearing a hoodie emblazoned with the words "Hamas are terrorists".