New UK foreign secretary visits Israel, calls for 'immediate release of all hostages'
“Our message is clear: We need an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, the protection of civilians, unfettered access to aid in Gaza, and a pathway towards a two-state solution,” the new foreign secretary of the United Kingdom, David Lammy, posted on 𝕏 after meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Sunday.
Elected on July 4, the new UK government is putting Jerusalem front and center of its foreign policy, with its new chief diplomat arriving in Tel Aviv just 10 days later.
“Welcome to Israel Foreign Secretary Lammy. I have great appreciation for the fact that one of your first trips is to this region and to Israel,” President Isaac Herzog said during a meeting at his Jerusalem residence on Monday.
“I think the fact that you won in such a landslide enables the United Kingdom to move forward in a very dramatic way, and be involved in new frontiers and new horizons.”
Herzog emphasized to Lammy that the Iranian regime is the primary source of destabilization and conflict in the region, in stark contrast to peace-loving nations like Britain and Israel.
“We are at war with an empire of evil that wants to undermine the stability of the world and is rushing to the bomb, undermining international trade, blocking trade routes which were laid down hundreds of years ago - actually, by the British Empire as part of the world order – and of course trying to surround Israel by its proxies from all over.”
Lammy thanked Herzog for the warm welcome and explained how this visit was unique when compared to his previous trips as a parliament member.
“It’s very good to be back in Israel. But I come back to Israel, a country that I’ve come to know very well, this time as Foreign Secretary after our general election result. And of course, I come back, very conscious of the trauma of October 7, and very conscious of the pain and anguish that many hostage families are experiencing and the nation is experiencing.”
Herzog stressed the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza are top priority in Israel.
“Above all, stands the issue of our hostages, our brothers and sisters who are in captivity, in terrible circumstances in real danger for their lives. We are working tirelessly to get them out. I sincerely hope that there will be a hostage deal soon, it is a very important step, also on the merits, and to get us out of the conflict.
“First and foremost, the underlying interest is to bring our hostages back home. I hope and I know that your government is working extremely tirelessly to get our hostages back home. And I thank you very much for your efforts on this issue.”
Lammy said he met with British hostage families on Sunday evening, “who shared with me their concerns and fears for their loved ones.”
“I hope that we see a hostage deal emerge in the coming days,” he said, “and I am using all diplomatic efforts. Indeed, last week with the G7 nations, and particularly with Secretary of State Blinken pressing for that hostage deal.” He added that he hopes a ceasefire deal will be secured soon.
Israeli First Lady Michal Herzog raised the issue of the severe sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas on and since Oct. 7 when speaking with Lammy. She emphasized the importance of working to secure the immediate release of all the hostages.
The foreign secretary joined the president in speaking with the family of Tamir Adar, who was murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7, and whose body is being held by Palestinian terrorists.
One hundred and twenty Israelis and foreign nationals remain in captivity in Gaza, more than nine months after they were brutally kidnapped when thousands of heavily armed terrorists stormed the border of southern Israel on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.
The terror attack was the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
Israel’s moving tribute to the victims of Nazi atrocities, the Yad Vashem World Remembrance Center, hosted Lammy on Monday for a tour that included the ‘Flashes of Memory: Photography during the Holocaust’ exhibition and the poignant Book of Names memorial.
The new foreign secretary rekindled the "Eternal Flame" in the Hall of Remembrance and laid a commemorative wreath on a slab under which ashes from the extermination camps are buried. He also signed the guest book and then read the message aloud.
“It’s one of the great honors of my life to visit the Yad Vashem as the UK Foreign Secretary, particularly because in the UK Parliament I represent the historic area of Stamford Hill in North London, one of the historic homes of the Jewish community in London- escaping a series of problems in the 19th century and, of course, the Holocaust. We honor all that were murdered and we remember the evils of genocide in that period of history.”
Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan hosted Lammy alongside British Ambassador Simon Walters and Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely.
Dayan stated: “One of the lessons of the Holocaust is the imperative to combat and defeat with all the strength the prevalent calls for the annihilation and elimination of the Jewish state, that we hear lately in the halls of power in Tehran, classrooms in Columbia University and, unfortunately, also in London.”
On Oct. 8 last year, one day after the Hamas massacre, Lammy signed a statement on behalf of the then-opposition Labour Party’s shadow cabinet, condemning Hamas’ actions as “unprovoked.”
Israeli news site Ma’ariv reported on Monday that Lammy had given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assurances that the UK would continue to challenge the proposed International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants against him and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
In the days before Lammy’s visit, the British government said its position vis-a-vis the application of ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan was “under review,” after the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported the new government would “drop” the legal challenge offered by the previous UK Conservative government of Rishi Sunak and David Cameron.
Lammy met with both Netanyahu and the recently appointed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Muhammed Mustafa, upon his arrival on Sunday.
In a statement, he said: “The death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable. The war must end now with an immediate ceasefire, complied with by both sides.
“The fighting has got to stop. The hostages still cruelly detained by Hamas terrorists need to be released immediately and aid must be allowed in to reach the people of Gaza without restrictions.”
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The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
