Mandelson called Wes Streeting's Israel criticism 'wild' and 'hysterical'

“Mandelson called Wes Streeting's Israel criticism 'wild' and 'hysterical' Submitted by Imran Mulla on Mon, 06/01/2026 - 15:04 Newly released files show the UK health secretary saying Israel was committing war crimes and should be sanctioned Former UK ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson walks his dog near his residence in central London on 20 April 2026 (Henry Nicholls/AFP) Off Peter Mandelson described British Health Secretary Wes Streeting's views on Israel as "wild" and "hysterical" after Streeting told him Israel was committing war crimes and should be sanctioned, newly released files have revealed. More than 1,000 pages of documents relating to Mandelson, the disgraced former cabinet minister, Labour peer and ambassador to the US , were published on Monday. Mandelson was forced out of his job, to which he was appointed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in 2024, in September, after revelations about his friendship with the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. A Middle East Eye analysis of the newly released Mandelson files has found that last July, the then-ambassador strongly criticised Streeting for his views on Israel's war on Gaza in private text messages to Pat McFadden, a cabinet minister and the secretary of state for work and pensions. The files show text correspondence in which Streeting asked Mandelson for his views on whether Britain should recognise a Palestinian state, which it went on to do months later in September 2025. Streeting said recognition was "morally and politically" right. "Morally, because Israel is committing war crimes before our eyes. Their government talks the language of ethnic cleansing, and I have met with our own medics out there who describe the most chilling and distressing scenes of calculated brutality against women and children." Streeting added: "This is rogue state behaviour. Let them pay the price as pariahs with sanctions applied to the state, not just a few ministers." These messages were released by Streeting himself earlier this year. Multiple Labour sources told MEE that the leak was engineered by Streeting to shore up support for himself as the next prime minister and to pile further pressure on Starmer. 'Reflects pretty badly on his maturity' Shortly after the correspondence with Streeting, Mandelson launched an attack on the health secretary in text messages to McFadden on 25 July. Mandelson said: "I received a wild long hysterical message from Wes about Israel. I pushed back. I can forward but reflects pretty badly on his maturity in my view." McFadden responded: "He is very active on the MPs WhatsApp groups on this subject". Days later, on 29 July, Mandelson sent McFadden a post by the US State Department on X saying the US government rejected an upcoming UN conference on a two-state solution which Britain was participating in. McFadden replied: "Wes has circulated a series of videos and a note [redacted] to the whole cabinet in advance of the meeting." Mandelson said "It is pathetic", and added: "I think Wes is experiencing an early midlife crisis." The messages shed some light on thinking at high levels of government in the months before Britain recognised the state of Palestine, although significant parts of the files are redacted. On 19 July, McFadden said: "The humanitarian situation in Gaza is [redacted]." McFadden added: "Keir not attracted to gestures but he might have no alternative." This appeared to suggest that ministers thought the humanitarian situation in Gaza was so bad it had no choice but to recognise Palestinian statehood. Who is the real Wes Streeting? His record on Israel and foreign policy examined Read More » The messages also establish that Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister who last year was heavily involved in US President Donald Trump's Gaza Board of Peace initiative, was in contact with British ministers throughout the process. On 24 July, Mandelson asked McFadden whether he had spoken to "TB", believed to be Tony Blair, on Gaza. McFadden responded: "I have. I spoke to him the other day. He is focussed on long term future - Arab countries, reform of PA [Palestinian Authority], [redacted]." Mandelson argued: "If we are not careful we won’t get anywhere near that future. "I first wrote an article about 2 SS [two-state solution] in 1975 after returning from six week visit of Israel and Arab countries. Carter advanced it but sabotaged by Begin. Bush 1 advanced through Madrid talks and threatened to end loan guarantees to Israel. PLO [Palestinian Liberaton Organisation] rescued Israel from the agreement and did so again when Clinton got agreement with Rabin." Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote a letter to Streeting earlier this year accusing him of a "shameful failure" for not resigning while privately condemning Israel's war crimes in Gaza. He pointed out in his letter that "once a government acknowledges that Israel is committing war crimes, then any continued military or political support is an admission from the government that it is knowingly aiding and abetting those war crimes". The Labour government sanctioned far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in June last year, but resisted calls to sanction Israel itself. Although diplomatic relations have been strained between Britain and Israel under Labour, with the UK introducing a partial arms embargo on the country, Starmer's government continued to collaborate militarily with it throughout its genocide in Gaza. In March 2025, just months before Streeting's private messages, Starmer rowed back on remarks made by then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy that Israel was committing a "breach of international law". UK Politics News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

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