Wes Streeting privately said Israel committing war crimes, backed sanctions on 'rogue state'
Wes Streeting privately said Israel committing war crimes, backed sanctions on 'rogue state'
Wes Streeting privately said Israel committing war crimes, backed sanctions on 'rogue state'
The British health secretary privately admitted last year that the Israeli government 'talks the language of ethnic cleansing'
British Health Secretary Wes Streeting privately said in July 2025 that Israel was "committing war crimes before our eyes" and endorsed sanctions on the state.
The revelation comes after Streeting released text message correspondence between himself and disgraced former British ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson.
The messages, released on Monday, were an apparent effort to dispel rumours about his friendship with the ex-peer, who resigned from the Labour Party last week over revelations about his long-standing friendship with the late convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Streeting’s private comments on Israel to Mandelson will come as an embarrassment to Keir Starmer’s government, which has repeatedly refused to accuse Israel of committing war crimes.
In the text messages, Streeting - widely considered a leading contender to replace Starmer as prime minister if he resigns - asked Mandelson for his views on whether Britain should recognise a Palestinian state, which it went on to do months later in September 2025.