President Isaac Herzog met at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Monday with United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Lammy who was making his first visit to the region since taking office.
Following their meeting, the Foreign Secretary joined President Herzog in speaking with the family of Tamir Adar from Kibbutz Oz who was murdered by Hamas and whose body was being held by the terrorists in Gaza.
President Herzog welcomed the Foreign Secretary and congratulated him on his appointment: “Welcome to Israel Foreign Secretary Lammy. I have great appreciation for the fact that one of your first trips is to this region and to Israel. I think the fact that you won in such a landslide enables the United Kingdom to move forward in a very dramatic way and be involved in new frontiers and new horizons.”
He added “We are at war with an empire of evil that wants to undermine the stability of the world and is rushing to the bomb, undermining international trade, blocking trade routes which were laid down hundreds of years ago, actually, by the British Empire as part of the world order. And of course, trying to surround Israel with its proxies from all over. That is why there is no more just war. We are a nation seeking peace, and I believe that we must find peace with our neighbors. I know that Britain sees it as a very important point and I hope you have a very productive visit."
He stressed, "But above all, stands the issue of our hostages, our brothers and sisters who are in captivity, in terrible circumstances in real danger for their lives. We are working tirelessly to get them out. I sincerely hope that there will be a hostage deal soon, it is a very important step, also on the merits, and to get us out of the conflict. First and foremost, the underlying interest is to bring our hostages back home. I hope and I know that your government is working extremely tirelessly to get our hostages back home. And I thank you very much for your efforts on this issue.”
Foreign Secretary Lammy thanked the President for his warm welcome and said: “Thank you very much. It's very good to be back in Israel. But I come back to Israel, a country that I've come to know very well, this time as Foreign Secretary after our general election result. And of course, I come back, very conscious of the trauma of October 7th, and very conscious of the pain and anguish that many hostage families are experiencing and the nation is experiencing. I met with UK hostage families just last night, who shared with me their concerns and fears for their loved ones. I hope that we see a hostage deal emerge in the coming days, and I am using all diplomatic efforts. Indeed, last week with the G7 nations, and particularly with Secretary of State Blinken pressing for that hostage deal. I hope too, that we see a ceasefire soon, and we bring an alleviation to the suffering and the intolerable loss of life that we're now seeing also in Gaza. So it's in that spirit that I returned as Foreign Secretary, hoping to bring, and for the UK to do all it can to bring, peace and stability to this region, this most complex and challenging of regions at this time. Thank you very much.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, First Lady Michal Herzog raised with the Foreign Secretary the issue of the severe sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas on and since October 7, and emphasized the importance of working to secure the immediate release of all the hostages.