LONDON: MPs from the UK’s ruling Labour Party have urged government ministers not to meet with Israel’s president during his visit to London next week.
Isaac Herzog will spend two days in the UK, but there has been no confirmation from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office if there will be a meeting between the two.
Relations between the UK and Israel are strained after Starmer pledged to recognize a Palestinian state later this month if a ceasefire cannot be agreed in Gaza, amongst other criteria.
London has indicated that it will detain Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters the UK, after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest over allegations of war crimes.
Britain has also imposed sanctions on two extremist Israeli politicians, and Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended around 30 arms export licenses to Israel last year amid fears that the equipment would be used to commit war crimes in Gaza.
