KEIR Starmer has been condemned for treating the Israeli president "like old friends" at a meeting on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister met Isaac Herzog in Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon, where he told the Israeli president the UK and Israel are "long-standing allies".
The pair were pictured shaking hands outside Number 10 before the meeting, which was also attended by Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely.
A Downing Street spokesperson said Starmer had "condemned Israel’s action in Doha yesterday as completely unacceptable. He said the strikes were a flagrant violation of a key partner’s sovereignty and do nothing to secure the peace we all desperately want to see.
“Turning to Gaza, he reiterated his huge concern and implored Israel to change course. They must stop the man-made famine from worsening further by letting aid in and halting their offensive operations, he added.”
The spokesperson said that both leaders “agreed that the hostages who were cruelly ripped by Hamas from their families nearly two years ago must be released” while Starmer also offered his condolences for the shooting in Jerusalem on Monday which killed six people.
The Prime Minister concluded the meeting by saying the UK and Israel were “long-standing allies”, and he would “continue his work to secure an enduring peace and a better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people alike”.
Meanwhile, Herzog told an event at the Chatham House think tank that the discussion was "frank" and "tough", although he added it was "a meeting between allies".
“The Prime Minister reiterated, and of course I couldn’t agree more, that Hamas is a terror organisation that must be removed.”
Herzog said that he and Starmer had discussed “at length” recognition of a Palestinian state, saying: “We believe that a unilateral resolution regarding a Palestinian state will be adverse and negatively affect any future process, because it will be dangerous.
“It won’t help one Palestinian, one hostage, and can be adversely interpreted by Hamas."
The Israeli president also said he had offered a "fact-finding mission" to come to Israel to "study the situation in Gaza".
The Scottish Greens said Wednesday's meeting should "haunt" Starmer for the rest of his tenure as Prime Minister.
Harvie told The National: “The sight of Keir Starmer welcoming the President of a genocidal apartheid regime is one that should haunt him for the rest of his tenure.
“This is a time when every government and every leader who cares about human rights and the genocide in Gaza should be cutting their political and military ties to Israel, not treating them like old friends."
He continued: “The world has seen how the UK has responded to the collective punishment of two million people and the grotesque failure of any kind of moral leadership from Downing Street.
“With the humanitarian emergency in Gaza getting worse and worse, the case for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel has never been stronger.”
Amnesty International UK similarly condemned the "polite handshakes and warm words" between Starmer and Herzog.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK's chief executive, said: "Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and Isaac Herzog is the head of state of the country carrying it out.
"His position may be largely ceremonial, but he has chosen to use it to defend collective punishment, even declaring that all Palestinians were responsible for the crimes of October 7.
"Those dehumanising words were cited by the International Court of Justice as evidence of the risk of genocide in Gaza. Such language has helped legitimise mass killing of civilians, including children, as well as deliberate starvation and the large-scale destruction of homes, hospitals and schools."
Deshmukh added: “This visit is a test of leadership and principle: polite handshakes and warm words will demonstrate neither. The UK will be judged on whether it took strong action against genocide, or helped to whitewash it.”
