UK politicians slam Lammy over secret meeting with Israeli foreign minister
British politicians have slammed Foreign Secretary David Lammy for holding an unannounced meeting with the Israeli foreign minister on Tuesday.
Middle East Eye revealed on Tuesday afternoon that Israel's Gideon Saar was visiting the UK on a private trip this week, and then reported on Tuesday evening that he had met the British foreign secretary in London.
The secretive nature of the meeting with a representative of a government accused of widescale human rights abuses has drawn heavy criticism from opposition MPs and politicians.
Independent MP Ayoub Khan told MEE that "it is utterly disgraceful and profoundly disappointing" that Lammy met Saar, especially "at a time when Israel is carrying out one of the most devastating and brutal military campaigns in recent history."
MEE understands that the two discussed Iran's nuclear programme and ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas .
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During the visit, Lammy is said to have criticised the blockade of Gaza and Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
"Saar's visit should never have been allowed," Khan said. "His rhetoric and policies stand in direct contradiction to international humanitarian law and basic human decency."
'Contempt'
The visit this week by such a high-ranking Israeli minister is particularly controversial given the warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Green Party deputy leader Zack Polanski told MEE on Wednesday that Lammy's meeting with Saar "shows more contempt for the huge concerns of a vast majority of people in the UK who want the killing to stop."
He noted that Lammy recently criticised Israel when it denied entry to two Labour MPs, Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang, who visited as part of a parliamentary delegation.
'Saar's visit should never have been allowed'
- MP Ayoub Khan
"How about the same solidarity for the huge number of innocent people massacred?" Polanski asked.
"How about the same solidarity in challenging a country that we are still arming whilst they commit a genocide?"
Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed said: "The Israeli foreign minister should be not be given a welcome in this country while his country continues its onslaught on the Palestinian people, murders its health workers and bombs its hospitals, residential homes and places of worship."
He added: "Our Foreign Secretary should have used the meeting to inform his counterpart of the sanctions this Labour government will be finally introducing on Israel for war crimes.
"Unfortunately, not only does our Foreign Secretary fail to understand the meaning of the word genocide, he also fails to act on it."
'Insult to international humanitarian law'
The Labour Muslim Network, which promotes British Muslim engagement with the Labour Party, also criticised Lammy's decision.
It told MEE: "Any engagement with a senior figure of this Israeli government, which is under investigation for breaches of international humanitarian law, will be seen as an insult to Muslim communities in Britain, Palestinians the world over and to international humanitarian law."
A key player in Netanyahu's government, Saar is an avowed opponent of the two-state solution and said last November that "creating a Palestinian state today would be tantamount to creating a Hamas state".
He recently attempted to justify Israel's decision to cut off aid to Gaza, saying, without evidence, that humanitarian assistance fuels Hamas.
"Aid that goes to Hamas is not humanitarian," Saar said on 4 March, portraying the blockade as legitimate despite it being considered an act of collective punishment under international law.
Gary Spedding, an independent cross-party consultant on Israel-Palestine, said: "Gone are the days of the UK Government being comfortable and able to proudly declare the fact they're hosting Israeli government ministers on official visits."
"Now, it is all secretive, with clandestine meetings," he added.
"It is doubtful that Mr Lammy even raised the pressing issue of the two sitting British MPs being refused entry to Israel just recently."
Labour MP Zarah Sultana posted on social media platform X in response to MEE's report on Saar's trip: "Gideon Saar - and all Israeli officials complicit in the genocide of Palestinians - you are not welcome in the UK."
The UK Foreign Office declined to comment on Saar's visit in response to a request from MEE on Tuesday afternoon.
middleeasteye.net