THE US and Israel are now engaged in a war across an entire region of the world. This is both enormously destructive and extremely reckless.

Britain should not be a participant or a combatant in this conflagration. It is way past time to break from our traditional, subordinate Atlanticism, which is making this country poorer and less safe.

In a single day this week, the US used B52 stealth bombers to attack targets in Yemen. At the same time, Israel used air strikes on both Syria and Lebanon while continuing the carnage and starvation tactics in Gaza.

We know from their own ministers’ statements that Israel is also planning some type of bloodcurdling attack on Iran, and the US has supplied both weapons and military personnel on the ground in Israel to allow that to happen. US boots on the ground are one of the many “red lines” that Joe Biden has steamrollered across in his unwavering support for Israel.

There can be no doubt that the US and Israel are engaged in a war across an entire region. Having destroyed Iraq and continuing to steal its oil, the US is now fighting nearly all the countries identified all those years ago by Bush and Rumsfeld as the “axis of evil.” There are even rumblings about war with North Korea, as recently reported in the Times.

Junior powers like Britain and Germany are also clearly involved in the region-wide attacks being conducted by the US and Israel. They continue to sell weapons to Israel. Britain also provides what is euphemistically called intelligence capability by overflying southern Lebanon on a daily basis. This is gathering information for Israel for combat purposes. Britain is a participant in the war on the side of the US and Israel.

Meanwhile, all of this takes place against the backdrop of the ongoing slaughter in Gaza. While the Biden administration is now asking for proof that Israeli policy is not one of mass starvation, the rest of the world believes that is exactly what it is.

It also believes that the official total of 42,000 dead (which is sure to rise once the onslaught eventually ends) is itself proof that Israel has no regard for the safety of civilians, including children. No-one has ever suggested that Hamas had 42,000 fighters, or anything like that number. They have shot up and gassed UN peacekeeping outposts, presumably with Western-supplied weapons.

When Netanyahu talks about Hezbollah having “put a rocket in every kitchen” in southern Lebanon, he is simply revealing his justification for his own butchery, which includes targeting the civilian population. When the public sees one of the effects of this ideology, when people are being burnt alive in their makeshift tents, they draw the conclusion that civilian carnage is Israeli policy, and they are right.

As a result, public opinion is not at all on the side of Israel, including in countries whose governments strongly support it. This is even true in the US. According to a recent poll for Pew Research, US public opinion has shifted strongly in favour of the administration using diplomatic measures to end the conflict, 61 per cent versus 19 per cent, a net gain of 14 per cent from December last year.

Even more dramatically, over the same time period, the lead of those saying Israel is going too far in its military response has shifted from 11 per cent to 19 per cent.

In Britain, there is a lead of 23 per cent for those saying Israel’s actions have been unjustified (47 per cent to 24 per cent, YouGov). YouGov did not ask questions on an immediate ceasefire or what the British government should do, but a majority support an immediate Israel withdrawal from Gaza, and 70 per cent support Palestinian statehood.

There is now a severe contradiction between public opinion in Western countries and the actions of their respective governments. There is a widespread sentiment of “not in my name,” which is concentrated in predominantly Muslim countries and among young people in general.

Even if politicians are not concerned with the morality of the situation, they should still expect that this gap may have lasting political consequences. It may even have an impact on the US presidential race, especially given how tight it is. There may also be a lasting impact on British politics, which would not be to Labour’s advantage.

In the recent US letter to Netanyahu warning against the policy of starvation in Gaza, it may be significant that the signatories are the secretaries of state and of defence, Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, but not Biden.

Despite the growing unpopularity of Israeli actions, the administration seems to be stuck in the mindset that it is going to provide no ammunition to Donald Trump in the battle for the White House. Instead, there is unlimited ammunition for Netanyahu in the Israeli assaults on the region.

Unwittingly, what the letter reveals is how closely tied Israeli actions are to US policy. If the flow of weapons could be turned off to stop starvation, they could be turned off to stop attacks on schools and hospitals, civilians in general, collective punishments, attacks on sovereign nations, terrorist tactics, and so on. In short, the US could halt the flow of weapons to Israel at any time.

The fact is the US chooses not to halt the weapons. And the US’s junior allies participate, to the extent they are able, in the same charade, feigning concern about Israel’s action but backing it to the hilt.

This is part of the wider pattern. Despite the talk of concerns and restraint, actions speak louder than words. When Netanyahu announced there was going to be an attack on Iran, the US response was to send missiles and troops to facilitate that. The US has resumed bombing Yemen with some of its most sophisticated weaponry because Israeli air strikes were not proving highly effective.

When Israel falsely boasts of the precision of its targeting in southern Lebanon, British armed forces may have helped to identify some of those targets, and we are still providing the overwhelming majority of the armaments that Israel wants from this country.

The Western powers, led by the US, are in a military alliance which is attacking an entire region. War and the effects of war resonate down the ages. An entire region and beyond may never forgive us.

Diane Abbott is Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.