Mandelson links to former head of Israel's military intelligence directorate revealed

Mandelson links to former head of Israel's military intelligence directorate revealed The  UK  government's vetting agency raised Peter Mandelson's associations with senior figures in  Israel ,  China  and  Russia  in denying the then-peer and former cabinet minister security clearance to be the ambassador to the  US , it has emerged. Mandelson lost his job as British ambassador to the US last September and was stripped of his peerage earlier this year after  details  emerged of his close friendship with the late American paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Since then Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government has faced enormous scrutiny and criticism over the decision to appoint Mandelson as ambassador to the US in 2024. Earlier this year it was revealed that United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) had concluded Mandelson should be denied security clearance, but the Foreign Office permanent secretary granted it anyway. The Guardian newspaper  reported  on Wednesday that UKSV found Mandelson had links to a former Israeli military intelligence general, Tamir Hayman.  Hayman was the head of Israel's military intelligence directorate from 2018 to 2021 and is now director of a Tel Aviv-based think tank called the Institute for National Security Studies (INNS). Read more:  Mandelson links to former head of Israel's military intelligence directorate revealed Former UK ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, walks his dog near his residence in central London on 20 April 2026 (AFP)

Original source: Middle East Eye