Corbyn asks Streeting why he did not resign over Israeli 'war crimes' admission
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has accused Health Secretary Wes Streeting of a "shameful failure" for not resigning while privately condemning Israel's war crimes in Gaza.
The former Labour leader said that Streeting did not publicly admit that the Labour government of Keir Starmer "was complicit in war crimes".
In a letter sent on Thursday and seen by Middle East Eye, Corbyn, now a Your Party MP, requested Streeting's "cooperation in uncovering the British government’s complicity in genocide".
Corbyn's condemnation comes after Streeting released text message correspondence between himself and disgraced former British Ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson on Monday.
The messages were an apparent effort to dispel rumours about his friendship with the ex-peer, who resigned from the Labour Party last week over revelations about his long-standing friendship with the late convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
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Streeting, it emerged, privately told Mandelson in July 2025 that Israel was "committing war crimes before our eyes".
He said the Israeli 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".
Corbyn pointed out in his letter that "once a government acknowledges that Israel is committing war crimes, then any continued military or political support is an admission from the government that it is knowingly aiding and abetting those war crimes".
He added: "It is now a matter of public record that you decided to serve in the cabinet of a government that was providing military, economic and diplomatic support to a state that was breaching international law."
'Rogue state behaviour'
Although diplomatic relations have been strained between Britain and Israel under Labour, with the UK introducing a partial arms embargo on the country, Starmer's government continued to collaborate militarily with the state throughout its genocide in Gaza.
In the text messages, Streeting – widely considered a leading contender to replace Starmer as prime minister if he resigns or is deposed – accused Israel of "rogue state behaviour" and said: "Let them pay the price as pariahs with sanctions applied to the state, not just a few ministers."
Corbyn asked Streeting: "If you believe Israel was committing war crimes, why did you not resign from a government that was continuing to provide military and economic support to Israel?"
He added: "Do you believe this government is complicit in war crimes?
"Would you be willing to cooperate with the ICC regarding any investigation into this government’s complicity in war crimes?"
Corbyn further asked: "Can you outline the specific steps you took to end this government’s military and political support for Israel?"
He said that "our history books will shame government ministers who could have stopped the genocide in Gaza, but chose to stay silent instead".
In March 2025, just months before Streeting's private messages, Starmer rowed back on remarks made by then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy that Israel was committing a "breach of international law".
Streeting has not publicly urged sanctions on Israel or accused it of committing war crimes, although last September he said that Israeli President Isaac Herzog "needs to answer the allegations of war crimes, of ethnic cleansing and of genocide that are being levelled at the government of Israel".
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