President Isaac Herzog of Israel is expected to visit London next Thursday, mere weeks before the United Kingdom is anticipated to formally recognise the state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly.
Two sources have confirmed that Herzog will meet with British ministers and senior political figures during his visit. It will mark the first time a senior Israeli leader has travelled to Britain since Foreign Secretary David Lammy met Israeli minister Gideon Sa’ar during an unannounced visit earlier this year.
However, any potential meeting between Herzog and Prime Minister Keir Starmer is likely to provoke significant controversy within the Labour Party, given the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. No 10 has yet to confirm whether such a meeting will take place.
Downing Street has previously indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could face arrest if he enters the UK, following the International Criminal Court’s issuance of an arrest warrant over alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.
Herzog, who holds a largely ceremonial role and belongs to a different political party than Netanyahu, has previously clashed with the Prime Minister over judicial reforms. Nonetheless, he has publicly supported Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The president attracted international scrutiny for remarks made in October 2023, in which he stated that all Palestinians in Gaza bore responsibility for the Hamas attacks on 7 October. “The entire [Palestinian] nation out there that is responsible. It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved,” Herzog said at the time.
His comments were later cited in a ruling by the International Court of Justice on 26 January 2024, which found it “plausible” that Israel had committed acts in violation of the Genocide Convention. The ICJ ordered Israel to take immediate steps to prevent further harm to Gaza’s civilian population. Herzog has since claimed that his statement was misrepresented by the court through selective quotation.
Starmer last met Herzog in Paris over a year ago, shortly after becoming Prime Minister. During that meeting, he praised the “historic friendship between Israel and the United Kingdom” and reaffirmed support for Israel’s right to self-defence and the return of hostages.
However, both Starmer and Lammy have adopted a more critical stance in recent months regarding Israel’s actions in Gaza, where over 65,000 people have reportedly been killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The UK has imposed sanctions on two hardline Israeli cabinet ministers, and Starmer has announced joint plans with France to recognise the state of Palestine this September.
Despite these measures, there remains widespread frustration within Labour and across the political spectrum that the UK has not done enough to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians.
In a related development, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey announced last week that he intends to boycott a state dinner hosted by King Charles during US President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to the UK. The move is intended as a protest against the United States’ perceived failure to exert pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza.
