In private messages to Peter Mandelson, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Israel was "committing war crimes before our eyes" and proposed sanctions for actions in the occupied Palestinian territories. News from last July discussed the recognition of a Palestinian state by the UK as "morally and politically". Streeting criticized the Israeli government for the language of ethnic cleansing. Mandelson, a former Labor politician and then ambassador to the US, responded publicly to the news on Sky News, saying he had "nothing to hide". The reports cover the period August 2024 to October 2025. Mandelson is a longtime friend of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.