UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Sunday said Israel needs to “get your own house in order” and take violence against Palestinians “more seriously”.
His remarks came after a performance at Glastonbury Festival, one of the UK's largest music events, where rapper Bobby Vylan, from the British rap punk duo Bob Vylan, led chants including “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF” — a reference to the Israeli army.
Streeting called the chants “appalling” but also urged the Israeli government to examine its own actions, particularly regarding violence by illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli embassy condemned the performance on social media, warning that it raised concerns about the “normalization of extremist language and the glorification of violence”.
“I’d also say to the Israeli embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank,” Streeting told Sky News.
“So, you know, I think there’s a serious point there by the Israeli embassy I take seriously. I wish they’d take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously.”
Illegal Israeli settlers raided a Palestinian Bedouin community in the occupied West Bank on Sunday as in a separate incident, three Palestinians were injured by army gunfire in the occupied territory.
Palestinian figures show that at least 415 settler attacks were recorded last month across the occupied territory.
According to Israeli government data, illegal settlers staged 414 attacks against Palestinians in the first half of this year, up 30 percent from 2024.
Since the start of Israel’s assault on Gaza in October 2023, at least 986 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The International Court of Justice last July declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
