The US ambassador to Israel on Friday launched a furious attack on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying that Britain would have lost World War II to Nazi Germany under his leadership.
Starmer is among several world leaders to oppose Israel’s plan to wrest control of Gaza City — and ambassador Mike Huckabee expressed his disagreement in trenchant terms.
“So Israel is expected to surrender to Hamas & feed them even though Israeli hostages are being starved?” Huckabee wrote on social media.
“Did UK surrender to Nazis and drop food to them?… If you had been PM then UK would be speaking German!”
Israel’s military will push to take control of Gaza City under a new plan approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, touching off a wave of criticism.
“This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages,” Starmer said, adding that it would “only bring more bloodshed.”
Starmer also drew anger in Israel late last month when he announced that the UK would recognize a Palestinian state in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the war and humanitarian crisis in the Strip, and meets several other conditions, including recommitting to a peace process.
The announcement marked a major diplomatic challenge for Israel, coming days after France said it would recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.
Starmer said that Israel could forestall the measure by reaching a ceasefire in Gaza and ending the “appalling situation” there, making clear that it will not annex the West Bank, and committing to a peace process that results in a two-state solution.
“The Palestinian people have endured terrible suffering,” Starmer told reporters. “Now, in Gaza, because of a catastrophic failure of aid, we see starving babies, children too weak to stand, images that will stay with us for a lifetime. The suffering must end.”
Starmer has worked hard to build ties with US President Donald Trump, inviting him for a state visit next month hosted by King Charles III.
On Thursday, British Ambassador to Israel Simon Walters said it “would be a huge mistake” for Israel to occupy all of Gaza, and pushed back on American and Israeli accusations that the planned UK recognition of Palestinian statehood would reward Hamas.
Hosting a briefing for Israeli reporters, Walters also condemned settler violence in the West Bank, “for which [Israel] seems to [impose] no consequences,” and highlighted Gaza’s “horrifying” humanitarian situation, calling on Israel to allow “full unrestricted access to aid.”
Responding to reports on the decision to conquer Gaza, Walters said, “That would be a huge mistake.”
“The IDF has done all that it can do in Gaza — it’s not going to achieve any more by fighting any longer,” said Walters. “Extending the war any further will simply lead to more deaths — deaths of soldiers, deaths of Palestinians, and, likely, deaths of hostages.”
He added that if Israel wants to defeat Hamas, “it can’t do that only militarily — it requires politics and diplomacy, and giving Gazans an alternative to Hamas” as Gaza’s post-war government.
