As Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s plane touched down in London on September 10, 2025, the city’s political and emotional temperature could hardly have been higher. The visit, coming on the heels of an Israeli military strike in Doha and amid a spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza, thrust UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer into the glare of international scrutiny—and domestic outrage.
Herzog’s meeting with Starmer at No 10 Downing Street was always going to be fraught. According to The Guardian, both men now have sharply diverging visions for the future of Israel and Palestine. Starmer, a long-time proponent of a two-state solution, insists that any path forward must exclude Hamas from governance, require Palestinian elections within a year, and see a reconstituted Palestinian Authority as the legitimate partner for peace. Herzog, once a supporter of this vision, has—like many Israelis since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack—lost faith in Palestinian self-rule. That core disagreement colored every aspect of the encounter.
But it wasn’t just policy differences that set the stage. The day before Herzog’s arrival, Israeli forces targeted Hamas leaders in Doha as they discussed a US-backed ceasefire proposal. The strike killed five lower-level Hamas members and a Qatari security officer, according to The Evening Standard. The attack drew swift condemnation from Starmer, who called the Emir of Qatar to express that "Israel’s action represents a flagrant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and risks fuelling further escalation when the focus should be ending the devastating cycle of violence in the region." He offered condolences for the Qatari officer’s death and praised Qatar’s indispensable mediation efforts.
US President Donald Trump, posting on Truth Social, also criticized the bombing, stating, "This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me." He added, "Israel’s bombing on the territory of a US ally does not advance Israel or America’s goals." The international rebuke underscored the deepening isolation Israel faces over its conduct in Gaza and the broader region.
Back in Westminster, the backlash against Herzog’s visit was immediate and fierce. During Prime Minister’s Questions, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn lambasted Starmer for hosting Herzog while children in Gaza were starving. Flynn described Gaza as a "graveyard" and accused Herzog of supporting the collective punishment of Palestinians. "What does it say of this prime minister that he would harbour this man while children starve?" Flynn thundered, even likening the invitation to welcoming Vladimir Putin or Benjamin Netanyahu to Downing Street. Starmer, for his part, replied, "We all want an outcome that secures peace," and insisted he would not give up on diplomacy, dismissing Flynn’s critique as "the politics of students."
The tension was not confined to the halls of Parliament. On Tuesday evening, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on Whitehall, waving Palestinian flags and chanting, "Say it loud, say it clear, Isaac is not welcome here," and "Keir Starmer shame on you, David Lammy shame on you." Some carried signs branding Herzog a "genocide defender." Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn joined the chorus, declaring Herzog should be on a flight to The Hague, not London, and accusing the UK government of welcoming a man who should face international justice.
Inside Downing Street, Starmer’s team walked a diplomatic tightrope. The Prime Minister’s spokesman told reporters Starmer would "raise the intolerable situation in Gaza, the action Israel must take to end the horrific suffering we’re witnessing. It cannot go on any longer." Yet, while Starmer’s office underlined his "revulsion" at the suffering in Gaza, they stopped short of echoing Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s call for Herzog to answer for alleged war crimes and ethnic cleansing. Streeting had pointedly asked, "If it is not the intent of the government of Israel to perpetrate genocide or ethnic cleansing, how on earth does he think his Israeli government is going to achieve its stated aim of clearing Palestinians out of Gaza without the war crimes, without ethnic cleansing, or even without genocide?"
Herzog’s role as president is largely ceremonial, and he hails from Israel’s Labour Party, not the ruling Likud. Still, he has largely backed the war efforts in Gaza and defended the Doha strike, saying, "The decision to strike at the top leadership of Hamas terrorism is important and correct... In the face of terrorism and absolute evil, it is necessary to fight with determination and boldness in order to first and foremost bring about the release of the hostages and create a better future for us and our neighbours."
Starmer’s diplomatic balancing act is complicated by shifting public opinion at home. According to new Ipsos Mori polling cited by The Guardian, 75% of the UK public believe Israel’s military actions in Gaza have gone too far. Among Labour voters, that figure rises to 80%. The British public now holds the Israeli government more responsible for the war (23%) than Hamas (20%), and 44% support UK recognition of Palestine as a country. Yet, 41% believe such recognition would make no difference to resolving the conflict. Starmer himself is under fire, with 49% of respondents saying he has not handled the Palestinian issue well.
The political fallout is real. Gaza has become a rallying point for left-wing critics and is fueling new alliances, including a possible Green-Jeremy Corbyn coalition. The issue is also seen as a potential stumbling block for Labour’s deputy leadership favorite, Bridget Phillipson. Meanwhile, statements by former Foreign Secretary David Lammy—that Britain had not determined genocide was taking place in Gaza and that there was no evidence UK-supplied F-35 parts were used in war crimes—have only deepened divisions within the party and the country.
For his part, Herzog is shielded by support from the US State Department, which recently denied visas to the entire Palestinian Authority delegation to the UN General Assembly. But Israeli diplomats are increasingly uneasy about the erosion of support in Europe and parts of the US, as voters recoil at the devastation in Gaza.
The diplomatic drama played out against a backdrop of urgent international action. On September 10, the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting at the request of Algeria, Pakistan, and Somalia. The world’s eyes are on London, Doha, and Gaza, as leaders struggle to find a way out of the violence and political deadlock.
In a sign of the complexity of the moment, just two days before meeting Herzog, Starmer hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at Downing Street. Abbas welcomed Starmer’s pledge to recognize a Palestinian state if Israel doesn’t change course ahead of the upcoming UN General Assembly. Both leaders agreed Hamas would have “absolutely no role” in the future governance of Palestine, according to a Downing Street spokesman.
With protesters outside, allies divided, and the humanitarian crisis worsening, the Starmer-Herzog meeting highlighted the immense challenges facing those who would try to broker peace in the Middle East. The gulf between visions for the future remains wide, and for now, the violence and suffering show no sign of abating.