Israeli embassy accuses Sadiq Khan of 'tainting' October 7 anniversary by attacking Israel on day of hate marches
From the Newshound archive · first published 8 October 2026.
Sadiq Khan sparked fury from the Israeli embassy and Jewish groups after using his third-anniversary statement on the October 7 attacks to condemn the 'reprehensible actions' of the Israeli government, even as pro-Palestinian marches took place on London's streets. The Mayor said the UK government was 'right to call out' Israel's conduct and urged a two-state solution, drawing an immediate rebuke from the Israeli embassy, which accused him of having 'tainted' the solemn occasion. Jewish communities across Britain marked three years since Hamas murdered around 1,200 people and seized more than 250 hostages.
The Israeli embassy said it was 'completely inappropriate' for Khan to pivot to attacking Israel on a day Jewish Londoners were marking 'the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.'
The Green Party's 'Zionism is racism' motion, passed 1,022 to 813 at its Brighton conference, has deepened the crisis, with senior Labour figures ruling out any future cooperation with the Greens.
The Green member who proposed the motion, Lubna Speitan, is a self-described 'close friend' of a convicted al-Qaeda terrorist sentenced to 40 years for plotting a shrapnel bomb attack at Heathrow.