British MP slams secret filming, sharing of video of her in Knesset meeting

The footage of Thornberry, an MP for Islington South, Finsbury, and De Beauvoir, was published on Tuesday without her consent, an act which she called "unacceptable." 

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF MARCH 12, 2025 10:06

Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales Emily Thornberry speaks to delegates on the third day of the Labour Party conference on October 10, 2023 in Liverpool, England. (photo credit: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

Labour MP Emily Thornberry has demanded an investigation after she was covertly filmed while participating in a UK parliamentary delegation visit to Israel’s Knesset.

The footage of Thornberry, an MP for Islington South, Finsbury, and De Beauvoir, was published on Tuesday without her consent, an act which she called "unacceptable." 

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel shared the video on her Instagram. However, she has since removed it. The clip depicts a conversation between her and Thornberry, where she questioned the British MP on whether she had spoken to West Bank residents about how they would vote were elections to take place.

Haskel then interrupted Thornberry and said, “The fact is that there’s no election because the day after, Hamas is going to take control."

I think this is the secret filming that was posted on Instagram by Sharren Haskel. https://t.co/mS7tilXwER pic.twitter.com/kzSlnewbLb

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) March 11, 2025

Thornberry raised the incident in a session of the Foreign Affairs Committee, asking Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer whether such conduct would be tolerated in the UK.

“Would you expect, minister, if there was a visiting delegation of members of parliament to the House of Commons, for the delegation to be videoed without their knowledge or consent?” she asked Falconer. “Or for it to be put onto Instagram and indeed briefed to, let's say, the Daily Telegraph in disparaging terms.”

“Certainly we had no knowledge that it was being videoed and assumed, of course, that it would never happen. And I have to say, I’ve just found out about it, and to say that I’m cross might be an understatement.”

NEW: A furious Emily Thornberry has asked the UK Government to intervene after an Israeli foreign minister secretly videoed their private conversation and shared it online pic.twitter.com/0pl65NlkJl

— The National (@ScotNational) March 11, 2025

Knesset members were 'quite insulting'

Thornberry also said that some members of the Knesset were “quite provocative” and "quite insulting" and that their attitude was “remarkably rude,” but insisted that the UK delegation did "their utmost to keep their decorum and remain polite."

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She then added that “It would be particularly bad, wouldn't it, if it was the deputy foreign minister of Israel who would be videoed in the UK and for disparaging comments to be made about her evidence or a private meeting that she'd had, let's say, with us?"

“I would ask the Foreign Office to investigate this, please," she added, "and to find out why this has happened, who made the decision, and to ask them to take it down and to apologize."

Falconer said it was the first he had heard about the matter and that he would "look into it and come back to the committee.”