Streeting: Israel's military has 'fallen short' of British standards

New Defence Secretary says he believes 'strongly in Israel’s right to defend itself.. it's values'

Wes Streeting has claimed Israel has “fallen short” of British military standards during its war on Hamas in Gaza and operations in the West Bank.

The new Defence Secretary said that he believed “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.”

But then added: “I also hold Israel as a friend and ally to the same standard that we hold ourselves to. That is the standard that should be applied to Israel. That is the standard that I think I feel they’ve fallen short of.”

Asked about earlier comments in which he made during a WhatsApp exchange with Peter Mandelson, in which he wrote that Israel was “committing war crimes before our eyes”, the Ilford North MP said: “I’m not going to pretend I didn’t make those comments.”

But in terms of any decisions over arms exports to the Jewish state, Streeting said decisions would be taken as part of a “clear framework” across Andy Burnham’s government.

Asked if the UK should buy Israeli weapons, he said: “Those are not my decisions alone.”

Streeting, who delivered a speech at Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire on Wednesday on the second day of his time as Defence Secretary, later told journalists: ““I’ve expressed very clearly my concerns about Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank.

“I believe 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.

“But I also hold Israel as a friend and ally to the same standard that we hold ourselves to. That is the standard that should be applied to Israel. “That is the standard that I think I feel they’ve fallen short of.

“You know, we’ve got a responsibility as a country to make sure that we’re good friends. We’re good friends who are also critical friends when necessary.”

Streeting also defended his lack of military experience, saying that it was not necessary to carry out the job of defence secretary.

He added: “In terms of military experience, that’s precisely why the prime minister hasn’t asked me to be chief of the defence staff. I am surrounded by people with exemplary records of military service, expertise and insight, and the job of the secretary of state for defence is a different one.”

“It is to make sure we set policy and strategy … . give our armed services the resources they need to perform the tasks we ask them to undertake on behalf of our country and in defence of our values.”

Streeting has previously travelled to Israel, when made shadow health secretary under Keir Starmer, visiting hospitals to see how some of the world’s leading medical equipment and drugs is produced there.

He also travelled to the West Bank to see the situation on the ground there, and meet with Palestinian leaders.

As he attempted to mount a leadership challenge to Starmer, Streeting revealed he had circulated a dossier showing allegations of IDF attacks on children in Gaza to Labour MPs.