Isaac Herzog voiced Israel’s protest over sanctions imposed “against the only democracy in the Middle East” and over Britain’s “echoing” of Hamas propaganda.
JNS Staff
(JNS)
Israeli President Isaac Herzog met U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street in London on Wednesday, where he voiced firm opposition to the British government’s stance on Israel, according to a statement from the President’s Residence.
The meeting would take place “against the backdrop of recent statements by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and members of his government regarding Israel, the U.K.’s expected decision to recognize a Palestinian state and the ugly wave of antisemitism rising across Britain,” Herzog’s office said ahead of the meeting.
The meeting was only announced on the second day of the president’s visit to London at the invitation of the local Jewish community.
Herzog would “express protest over the sanctions imposed against the only democracy in the Middle East and over Britain’s echoing of Hamas’s starvation campaign while 48 hostages are being cruelly tortured in captivity in Gaza,” according to his office.
The Israeli president, who holds a largely ceremonial role, also stressed that any move to recognize Palestinian statehood at this time will be a reward for terror and undermine efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages and end the war. He called sanctions against Israel and its leaders “unacceptable.”
The meeting came just days after Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas arrived in London for a three-day visit at Starmer’s invitation.
The two met to advance the P.A.’s “bilateral relations” with London and coordinate ahead of the expected decision by the United Kingdom to formally recognize a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly later this month.
Image: Israeli President Isaac Herzog holds up pictures of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski during a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, Aug. 4, 2025. Photo by Haim Zach/GPO.
