Short answer: No. As of August 2026, Alastair Campbell, the former Downing Street communications chief, does not support Israel's conduct of the Gaza war. Since mid-2025 he has repeatedly said, in his own words, that Israel's military campaign in Gaza meets the definition of genocide, and he has criticized what he calls the use of antisemitism accusations to shut down legitimate debate about the Israeli government's conduct. He is alive and remains an active broadcaster and columnist.
What Alastair Campbell has actually said and done
May 28, 2019: Campbell was expelled from the Labour Party after he revealed he had voted Liberal Democrat. He used the moment to criticize what he called inconsistent Labour enforcement on antisemitism cases, tweeting that there was a "difference in the way antisemitism cases have been handled," according to The Jewish Chronicle. This episode was about internal Labour Party antisemitism politics, not a statement about Israel itself.
Early February 2024: At an Intelligence Squared event, Campbell was pressed by young audience members over a Gaza ceasefire and told one questioner to "get off your high horse and vote Labour." He initially dismissed the criticism, saying people had to have been in the room, and apologized only after video of the exchange circulated. The New Statesman, writing on February 9, criticized him for handling Gaza as a matter of political management rather than a moral question.
March 25, 2025: The Jewish Chronicle criticized Campbell and his Rest Is Politics co-host Rory Stewart for giving United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, whom the paper described as a sharp critic of Israel, what it called an uncritical "softball" interview on their podcast without pushing back on her claims about Israel. Read the full critique at The Jewish Chronicle.
July 15, 2025: Writing under his own byline, Campbell declared that "fence sitting is no longer possible, or right" on Gaza. He wrote that "the manner and scale of Israel's demolition of Gaza goes way beyond either legal proportion or respect for civilian life," cited Article 2(c) of the genocide convention, and argued that Israeli officials dismiss critics as antisemitic to deflect scrutiny. The column ran in The New World.
July 17, 2025: On episode 429 of The Rest Is Politics, titled "Question Time: Gaza, Genocide, and Global Hypocrisy," Campbell said on air that "it's impossible now to argue that this is anything other than genocide," referring to Israel's campaign in Gaza, and said that labeling all criticism of the Israeli government as antisemitic "has become part of the problem that stopped proper debate about this." Listen via his official site.
Through mid-2026: Campbell remains an active Editor-at-Large columnist and podcaster, continuing to publish diary entries and produce The Rest Is Politics, including commentary on Middle East and international affairs, according to his official site.
Who is Alastair Campbell, and how has his position on Israel evolved
Alastair Campbell is a British journalist and broadcaster best known as Tony Blair's Downing Street Director of Communications and Strategy from 1997 to 2003. He is not currently a working political strategist; he left frontline politics decades ago and is now a media figure, author, and co-host of the popular podcast The Rest Is Politics with Rory Stewart, alongside a column for outlets including The New World.
On Israel specifically, the public record through August 2026 shows a clear shift over time rather than a fixed position. In the period after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, Campbell described trying to be fair to both sides and, in early 2024, treated Gaza largely as a matter of UK political management rather than a moral emergency. By 2025, that position moved decisively: in a personal column and on his own podcast, he stated plainly that Israel's campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide under the international legal definition, and he has criticized the use of antisemitism accusations to deflect criticism of the Israeli government. He has also given a platform to sharp critics of Israel such as UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, which drew criticism from The Jewish Chronicle for going unchallenged.
There is no public record of Campbell making donations to Israeli causes, appearing at pro-Israel events, or having a personal Jewish-identity connection to the issue. His only well-documented entanglement with Jewish-community politics is around Labour Party antisemitism controversies during the Blair and Corbyn eras, which is a separate matter from his position on Israel's conduct of the war.
The bottom line
Alastair Campbell is not a supporter of Israel's current conduct in Gaza. He has publicly and repeatedly called Israel's campaign a genocide since mid-2025 and criticizes the conflation of criticism of Israel with antisemitism. He is alive and continues to comment on the issue as of mid-2026.
Wear your support, whatever the headlines say
Public figures will keep debating Israel's conduct, but plenty of people want a simple, visible way to say where they stand. Our I Stand With Israel collection is built for exactly that: pieces you can wear every day that make your position clear without saying a word.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
