Israel’s embassy in London has described the UK’s changing policies towards the Jewish State in recent years as a “source of deep sadness” as the world marked three years since the October 7 attacks.
In a statement remembering the victims of the Hamas-led massacre, which claimed more than 1,200 lives in 2023, the embassy wrote: “Three years ago today, Israel awoke to one of the darkest days in its history.
“This was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and a day whose horror remains impossible to forget.
“Among those murdered were British citizens and British-Israeli nationals, including Bernard Cowan, Nathanel Young, Danny Darlington, Jake Marlowe, Aner Shapira, Dvora Abraham, Yonatan Rapoport, Lianne Sharabi, Noiya Sharabi, Yahel Sharabi, Benjamin Trakeniski, Yannai and Liel Hetzroni-Heller, Joseph Malachi Guedalia, Dor Hanan Shafir, Roi Popplewell and Rotem Kalderon. Nadav Popplewell, a British-Israeli citizen, was taken hostage and subsequently murdered in Hamas captivity.
“Emily Damari, a British-Israeli dual citizen from Kfar Aza, was abducted from her home and held in Gaza for 471 days before her release in January 2025. Her ordeal, and those of every hostage and every hostage family, must never be forgotten. We remember every victim by name, and every family whose lives were changed forever.”
It went on to say that Jerusalem was “deeply grateful” for the UK’s support in the immediate aftermath of the attack, mentioning that Britain, under then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, “unequivocally affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself, to confront Hamas, to bring the hostages home and to strengthen Israel’s security”.
“We remain equally grateful to the many people across Britain who stood with Israel, who attended vigils, raised their voices for the hostages and refused to allow their plight to be forgotten. For the families of those murdered and kidnapped, that solidarity mattered enormously,” it added.
However, the statement also condemned the “deeply painful reality” that “on the very day of the massacre, and in the days that followed, there were demonstrations and public expressions in Britain that celebrated the attacks” and that the country “subsequently experienced a profound rise in antisemitism”.
In an apparent reference to the government’s decision under Sir Keir Starmer to recognise a Palestinian state and, more recently under Andy Burnham, impose sanctions on West Bank settlements, it continued: “Those who simply expressed support for Israel’s existence and security were, too often, subjected to hostility and abuse.
“This has been profoundly distressing for Britain’s Jewish community and for all those who believe that Israel, like every other nation, has the right to exist in security.
“It is therefore a source of deep sadness that, in the years since 7 October, the position of the British Government towards Israel has changed so substantially from the solidarity expressed in those first days.”
But it added that Israeli officials “nevertheless continue to value the longstanding friendship between our two countries and the many British people who have continued to stand with Israel”.
“We will remember 7 October. We will remember those we lost. And we will never forget those who stood with us,” the statement concluded.
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