Streeting resigned as health secretary in May over losing confidence in Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership [GETTY]
The UK’s former health secretary, Wes Streeting, spoke out on Wednesday after private text messages revealed that the former UK ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, called his criticism of Israel “wild” and “hysterical” amid bids by Labour officials to stand in any leadership contest.
Newly released government documents, published on Monday, revealed divisions within Britain’s ruling Labour Party over Gaza and Palestinian statehood. The files include exchanges between Mandelson and senior ministers in 2025 as Britain debated recognising a Palestinian state and responded to Israel’s war on Gaza.
In a statement to the Guardian, Streeting said he felt he was “hitting up against a brick wall” when trying to raise concerns about Gaza within the UK government.
Streeting said he was “horrified by the war in Gaza”.
“In government, I did everything I could behind the scenes to get the government to act with the moral urgency the conflict demands,” the former health secretary said. He added that he did “everything [he] could” to get the government to act, including sharing eyewitness testimony from doctors on the ground in Gaza.
“I wasn’t by any means the only cabinet minister pushing for action, but we often felt like we were hitting up against a brick wall. Our concerns and motives were dismissed.”
The files show text correspondence in which Streeting argued that Britain should recognise a Palestinian state and accused Israel of committing war crimes.
“Morally, because Israel is committing war crimes before our eyes. Their government talks the language of ethnic cleansing, and I have met with our own medics out there who describe the most chilling and distressing scenes of calculated brutality against women and children,” Streeting wrote.
“This is rogue state behaviour. Let them pay the price as pariahs with sanctions applied to the state, not just a few ministers,” he added.
Those messages were released by Streeting himself earlier this year.
Mandelson responded that recognising a Palestinian state could undermine efforts to achieve a two-state solution if it encouraged Israel to accelerate the annexation of the occupied West Bank, something he argued the United States would be powerless to reverse.
He suggested policymakers needed to “employ practical means” to achieve a two-state solution, adding that he did not make government policy and “only helps implement it”.
Shortly afterwards, Mandelson criticised Streeting in private messages sent to cabinet minister and Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden on 25 July 2025.
“I received a wild, long hysterical message from Wes about Israel,” Mandelson wrote. “I pushed back. I can forward, but [it] reflects pretty badly on his maturity in my view.”
McFadden replied: “He is very active on the MPs WhatsApp groups on this subject.”
Days later, on 29 July, Mandelson sent McFadden a US State Department post rejecting an upcoming UN conference on a two-state solution, which Britain was participating in.
McFadden replied that Streeting had circulated a series of videos and a note to the entire cabinet ahead of the meeting.
Mandelson responded: “It is pathetic,” adding: “I think Wes is experiencing an early midlife crisis.”
Responding to the files, Streeting said in a post that his concerns “were a result of moral urgency, not a ‘mid life crisis’.
The messages were among more than 1,000 pages of documents relating to Mandelson that the government released on Monday. Significant portions of the files remain redacted.
The documents provide a glimpse into discussions among senior Labour figures in the weeks before Britain formally recognised a Palestinian state in September 2025.
One exchange from 19 July showed McFadden writing that “the humanitarian situation in Gaza is [redacted]”.
He added: “Keir not attracted to gestures but he might have no alternative,” appearing to suggest ministers thought recognising a Palestinian statehood was the only choice given how bad the humanitarian situation in Gaza is.
Mandelson responded that “if we are not careful we won’t get anywhere near that future”, before reflecting on decades of failed attempts to achieve a two-state solution.
The former envoy was sacked later that month following accusations that he leaked sensitive information to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, allegations he denies.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faced sustained pressure over his appointment of Mandelson as ambassador. While Starmer later apologised for the appointment, he stopped short of resigning.
Britain, alongside Australia, Canada and Portugal, formally recognised a Palestinian state in September 2025, a move condemned by Israel.
Streeting’s post has been met with critique, with former Labour MP Zarah Sultana accusing the former secretary of being “part of a cabinet that armed and supported a genocidal apartheid Israeli state”.
The politician did note his support for Israel’s right to defend itself, adding he had met with survivors of the 7 October attacks and was the first shadow cabinet minister to visit Israel.
Streeting resigned from the Labour Party in May, saying he had lost confidence in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership. The politician said he would stand in any Labour leadership contest triggered against Keir Starmer, and he’s framed it as a call for a “proper contest” rather than an immediate coup.
