Senior British MP says US ambassador to Israel is 'clearly an idiot'
Emily Thornberry, the chair of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, which scrutinises British foreign policy, made the comment in a post on X on Sunday.
It came after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the Israeli government's decision to "further escalate its offensive in Gaza".
According to Israeli media reports, the government's planned occupation of Gaza City will begin with the mass expulsion of around one million Palestinians from the city, followed by a siege and ground invasion.
Starmer said in an official statement: "This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages. It will only bring more bloodshed."
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The Trump administration's ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, attacked the British prime minister on X in response.
He claimed Britain would have fallen to the Nazis if Starmer was prime minister during World War Two.
"So Israel is expected to surrender to Hamas & feed them even though Israeli hostages are being starved?" Huckabee asked.
"Did UK surrender to Nazis and drop food to them? Ever heard of Dresden, PM Starmer? That wasn't food you dropped."
This appeared to refer to the joint British-American aerial bombing of the German city of Dresden in 1945, which killed tens of thousands of Germans.
Huckabee added: "If you had been PM then UK would be speaking German!"
Thornberry shared Huckabee's post and commented: "This Ambassador is clearly an idiot".
This Ambassador is clearly an idiot https://t.co/qdpUrg65lT — Emily Thornberry (@EmilyThornberry) August 10, 2025
Last month the Foreign Affairs Committee published a report on its inquiry into the Israel-Palestine conflict, which recommended that the UK government take immediate steps to "prepare a comprehensive ban" on goods imported from Israeli settlements.
"We should not be trading with the settlements, and we should be sanctioning companies that are involved in building settlements and facilitating the settlements," Thornberry told Middle East Eye at the time.
In his statement last Friday on Israel's decision to occupy Gaza City, Starmer said: "What we need is a ceasefire, a surge in humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages by Hamas and a negotiated solution.
Emily Thornberry: Starmer has 'a golden opportunity' to sway Trump on Gaza Read More »
"Hamas can play no part in the future of Gaza and must leave as well as disarm."
The UN Security Council convened on Sunday for an emergency session called by Britain, France, Greece, Denmark and Slovenia to discuss Israel's plan to occupy Gaza City.
"We call on Israel to urgently reverse this decision," the five countries said in a joint statement on Sunday.
James Kariuki, the UK's deputy permanent representative to the UN, accused Israel of "inhumanity" at the Security Council session.
"Expanding military operations will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict," he said.
"It will not secure the release of the hostages. It will only deepen the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza."
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