Who is Israel's controversial deputy minister of foreign affairs?

A range of Israeli ministers have become notorious in recent years for their willingness to make provocative comments about the UK.

They have pushed the idea that high levels of Muslim immigration have made British society dangerous for Jewish people and have lauded the country's Islamophobic far right on the subject, even though Israel has a proportionately higher Muslim population than the UK.

Last week, in the wake of an antisemitic attack by a British-Syrian man on a synagogue in Manchester that killed one worshipper - another was accidentally shot dead by police - Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli invited far-right campaigner and convicted criminal Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) to his country.

On Sunday, another Israeli minister - Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel - travelled to Manchester where she addressed the crowd wearing a bulletproof vest.

"Here as a Jew I am not safe in your streets - I'm threatened with death, for nothing more than my very existence," Haskel told hundreds of mourners who had gathered to commemorate the synagogue attack.

"I stand before you in a bulletproof vest, a Kevlar vest, here on this stage. I am not allowed to be here without it."

A day later she spoke at the Conservative Party conference - also in Manchester - where she hit out at Prime Minister Keir Starmer, blaming immigration for the rise of antisemitism in Britain.

“Out-of-control immigration, particularly from Islamist communities hostile to your values, is reshaping your society," she told the Conservative Friends of Israel meeting.

“It is fuelling antisemitism on your streets. It is straining your social cohesion."

Secret filming

Haskel is no stranger to controversy for her public statements on Israel-Palestine when speaking to foreign media.

A member of Israel's New Hope party, which split from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's, Haskel was condemned by British parliamentarians earlier this year for secretly filming them when they were on a visit to Israel and posting the footage on Instagram, accompanied by disparaging remarks.

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Emily Thornberry, who serves as chair of parliament's foreign affairs select committee, asked the UK government to intervene in March after a 60-second clip was posted of a visibly irate Haskel asking Thornberry if she would visit the occupied West Bank if elections were held there tomorrow.

Barely 20 seconds into offering a reply, Haskel interrupted a flustered Thornberry and said: “The fact is that there’s no election because the day after Hamas is going to take control. 

"If we agree in any way to a two-state solution, the Palestinian Authority is going to take control of Gaza, it’ll be in the hands of Hamas again. So the fact is you’re asking me to give Gaza back to Hamas."

The video then jumps to a different angle of Haskel where she says: "When people come and tell us you have to do the two-state solution now, for us it means you give it [control] to Hamas back.

"And that’s something we won’t accept."

Children's deaths 'Hamas propaganda'

Speaking to Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman earlier this week about Chikli's invitation to Robinson, Haskel repeatedly deflected, citing unrelated cases, and ultimately refused to condemn the invitation.

"People are entitled and allowed to speak out their mind," she said.

She has blamed the Palestinians for stoking violence in the region, repeating in March this year the oft-quoted Israeli adage that peace would come when they "love their children more than they hate us" in an interview with The Telegraph.

In July she also dismissed a report that 17,000 children had been killed in the Gaza conflict as "Hamas propaganda" while also stating that "there isn't a war where children are not killed".

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel faced tough questioning from Channel 4 presenter Cathy Newman over the invitation of British far-right activist Tommy Robinson to Israel.

Newman asked Haskel directly if she would condemn her ministerial colleague Amichai Chikli for… pic.twitter.com/s9EJScG1VB

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) October 6, 2025

In August, Haskel held a series of meetings in South Sudan amid reports that Israel was discussing the forced transfer of Palestinians from Gaza to the East African country.

An Associated Press report, citing six sources familiar with the matter, said they had discussed a potential plan to resettle Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to South Sudan.

In a statement announcing the visit, Haskel accused the international community of focusing “solely” on Gaza, saying South Sudan faces “a real humanitarian crisis”.

The statement said Haskel's visit is focused on deepening cooperation in various areas and advancing joint initiatives and "exploring options for Israeli humanitarian aid" in the country.

Far-right ties growing?

Haskel's comments denouncing the British government while refusing to condemn the far right are part of a wider trend of Israeli leaders apparently openly aligning with anti-migrant tendencies in Europe, even those that have a history of antisemitic behaviour.

It has also led to some tensions with Jewish groups in the diaspora.

The Robinson invitation, in particular, caused a rare split with a number of pro-Israel Jewish organisations in the UK, who have condemned the Israeli ministers for defending the far-right activist.

The Board of Deputies (BoD) and the Jewish Leadership Council released a statement saying Yaxley-Lennon's presence "undermines those genuinely working to tackle Islamist extremism and foster community cohesion".

Both bodies are generally supportive of the Israeli government, and in June the BoD suspended members of its board who criticised Israel's genocide in Gaza.

Chikli hit back, condemning the BoD on Saturday as being "openly aligned with left-wing, woke, pro-Palestinian parties".