UK's new Defence Secretary Streeting: Israel has 'fallen short' in Gaza

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FARNBOROUGH, ENGLAND — Israel has “fallen short” of Britain’s standards of conduct in Gaza and the West Bank, the U.K.’s new Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said Wednesday.

Speaking to journalists at the Farnborough International Airshow in one of his first engagements in the job, Streeting said that as a “friend and ally,” Israel should be held to the same standard Britain holds itself to.

“That is the standard that I think, I fear, they’ve fallen short of,” he added.

The defense secretary has previously said — in WhatsApp messages to former U.S. ambassador Peter Mandelson before Streeting took up his current job — that “Israel is committing war crimes before our eyes,” and is committing “rogue state behaviour” in the West Bank.

Asked about these messages Wednesday, Streeting refused to repeat them. But he said: “I’m not going to pretend I didn’t make those comments.”

His remarks highlight the continued ripple effects on the left of British politics over Israel’s protracted campaign in the Gaza Strip, which followed the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas. The new defense secretary nearly lost his parliamentary seat of Ilford North at the last general election after a large turnout among pro-Palestinian constituents, and has been projected to lose it by some pollsters.

Streeting also refused to say whether he believes Britain should continue to buy Israeli weapons as those are “not my decisions alone.”

“I’ve expressed very clearly my concerns about Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank,” he said, adding that he believes “very strongly in Israel’s right to defend itself, to defend its values, its freedom, and its democracy, just as we do every single day.”

Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has tried to make a break with his predecessor, Keir Starmer, who was condemned by some in his own party for his staunch support for Israel in the immediate aftermath of October 7 – including a broadcast interview in which he appeared to say that Israel had the “right” to cut off water and energy to Gaza.

Burham said earlier this month — ahead of taking up the top job on Monday — that the governing Labour Party “didn’t get it right.”

“Labour’s initial response to the treatment of Gaza caused huge hurt. We got it wrong and I am sorry for that,” he wrote on social media.

Defense spending questions

Burnham appointed Streeting as defense secretary late on Monday, after weeks of turmoil in the Labour ranks over promises to increase defense spending.

Speaking Wednesday, Streeting refused to commit the government to spending 3 percent of GDP on defense by 2030, the stated preference of John Healey, Britain’s new chancellor, who quit as defense secretary just weeks ago amid the funding row.

“I’m trying not to be on the wrong side of the chancellor on day two in office,” Streeting said, adding it would not only be “limiting to my time in this post, but potentially ending of my time in this post” to “write the chancellor’s next budget and next spending review for him.”

He said Burnham asked him to take the job “because of my record as a modernizer and reformer” during his time as health secretary. “I think that’s what we need in MoD,” he said.