DAVID Lammy must appear before MPs and answer questions on his secret trip to Israel, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said.
The Foreign Secretary undertook an undisclosed visit to Israel on Sunday and into Monday, with his trip only being revealed when Israeli government officials posted on social media.
It came despite the Foreign Office saying last August that they would publicise international trips in the usual way amid reports that Lammy was planning to visit Israel to meet with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among others.
After The National published a story reporting on Lammy’s presence in Israel, a post was put out on his Twitter/X account announcing a meeting with Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar.
Glad to meet with @gidonsaar to stress the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire with all hostages immediately released & all restrictions on aid to Gaza lifted. I urged Israel not to endanger @UNRWA's ability to operate, and to prevent the collapse of the humanitarian response. pic.twitter.com/Y22z18Wh8k
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) January 13, 2025
The FCDO did not respond to a request for comment on why Lammy’s visit had not been disclosed sooner – despite widespread government publicity for a trip to Saudi Arabia which took place immediately beforehand.
Speaking to The National, the now-independent MP Corbyn (below) said that it was “very strange that he should go to Israel at this point”.
He went on: “There are many other places he could go, and he could congratulate those governments that have taken a real stance in support of the Palestinian people, such as the governments of South Africa, Bolivia, Brazil, Ireland, and others, and thank them for their actions.
“History is not going to be kind to those people that walked away from trying to save life in Palestine.”
Corbyn said that Lammy needed to “turn up in parliament immediately so we can ask him questions”.
“One: what did he say to Netanyahu and others about the ICJ [International Court of Justice] decision on acts of genocide against the Palestinian people,” Corbyn said.
“Secondly, did he make it clear that Britain will abide by the ICC [International Criminal Court] ruling that Netanyahu must face an arrest warrant.
“And three, will he answer the question, which he's so far failed to answer, as to why we cannot stop all arms sales to Israel.
“He keeps hiding behind this argument that parts for the F-35 jets for Israel cannot be separated from parts for F-35 jets that go elsewhere. I believe it's nonsense.”
The ICJ ruling to which he referred saw the top UN court rule that there was a “plausible” risk that Palestinians in Gaza were having their right to be protected from genocide violated.
And the ICC ruling relates to the issuing of an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Netanyahu last November over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Despite both those international court rulings, the Labour Government has continued to defend its policy of exporting parts for F-35 fighter jets to a global pool to which Israel has access.
The news of Lammy’s secret Israel visit comes as the UK Government continues to refuse to disclose who Foreign Office minister Anneliese Dodds met with during her own trip to the country last December – which was publicised beforehand.
Corbyn said the Labour ministers “need to recognise that you cannot go around the world lecturing people on international law – which many do – and then do nothing about it when the opportunity is there”.
He added: “The ruling has been clear about arms sales, clear about genocide, but also the British Government must be aware that there is a clear line of legal action that could follow, and that is the prosecution of the British Government for knowingly supplying weapons to a government that is committing acts of genocide.”
Lammy nominated Corbyn to run Labour in the 2015 party leadership race. Although he said he would not vote for him due to a range of disagreements on policy, Lammy said Corbyn was a "man of immense integrity and principle".
