Martin Williams
Declassified UK / February 10, 2026
Disgraced Labour grandee appears to have kept ties with Conservatives long after his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein emerged.
Peter Mandelson claimed he conducted unofficial diplomacy with Israel on behalf of the last Conservative government after fresh details of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein had emerged, Declassified has found.
The disgraced Labour grandee said he raised questions with the Israeli government in the early months of the Palestinian genocide “on behalf” of then-foreign secretary, David Cameron, who returned to government in November 2023.
New details of Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein had emerged in June that year, with UK media outlets reporting that he stayed in contact with the billionaire long after his conviction for child sex offences.
Yet Mandelson boasted about an apparent role with Rishi Sunak’s government months later during a Zoom call with a former Israeli military spokesman in April 2024.
The revelation comes as the Conservatives are heavily criticising Labour for appointing Mandelson as British ambassador to Washington, saying he should have had no role in UK foreign policy once details of his ties to Epstein became known.
Cameron did not initially respond to requests for comment. But since this article was published, his spokesperson has said he does not recognise Mandelson’s claims.
Personal gain ?
Mandelson’s Zoom meeting took place weeks after three British aid workers were killed by Israel in Gaza.
It was organised by the European Leadership Network (ELNET), which describes itself as “the most influential pro-Israel advocacy organisation in Europe”. A recording was later published on its YouTube channel.
The video shows Mandelson saying: “[The Israeli government is] allowing aid to come in through Ashdod port, which they have been asked to do repeatedly by its allies since the beginning of the year.
“Indeed, I did myself on behalf of the Foreign Secretary when I was in Israel.”
He also suggested that he had been in discussions days earlier with the head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli defence ministry unit overseeing policies and coordinating aid in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Mandelson concluded his comments on the Zoom call by saying: “The [Israeli] government might be better off if it listened more to the IDF. If you can pass on that one.”
A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office refused to comment about Mandelson’s stated role, saying it would be inappropriate for them to discuss allegations against the previous government.
Cameron’s spokesperson said of the Mandelson claims: “We do not recognise this at all. Peter Mandelson was never asked to represent Lord Cameron or the government on foreign affairs.
“It was, however, the government’s policy to ask Israel repeatedly to open Ashdod Port to allow for more aid to flow into Gaza, something Lord Cameron regularly referred to in the House of Lords and in the media.”
At the time, Mandelson did not hold any official government positions and was still director of his lobbying firm, Global Counsel.
The company’s clients include the spy tech company Palantir, co-founded by Jeffrey Epstein’s “great friend” Peter Thiel.
John McDonnell, the former Labour shadow chancellor, told Declassified: “The question to be asked about Mandelson’s involvement in any political or diplomatic venture is whether its motive was public service or personal gain.”
‘Shadowy back channels’
Mandelson’s diplomatic efforts are likely to have come in January 2024, when he attended an ELNET trip to Israel.
The delegation included former Conservative Party leader Lord Michael Howard and the former director of Conservative Friends of Israel, Lord Stuart Polak.
They spent an hour with the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, as well as attending a military briefing from the IDF and dining with “high-ranking Israeli policy makers”.
During the trip Mandelson attended an ELNET dinner where Britain’s ambassador to Israel was present.
One delegate later said that the Israeli side “came to talk to us and not to listen”, adding: “Israel needs an election soon to get rid of these terrible politicians.”
The independent MP Zarah Sultana told Declassified: “It is another stain on our democracy that Peter Mandelson was conducting unofficial diplomacy with Israel while it was committing genocide in Gaza, and doing so ‘on behalf of’ the foreign secretary.
“This is the same rotten pattern we keep seeing: a political establishment that operates through shadowy back channels, beyond democratic scrutiny, where the same well-connected figures resurface again and again no matter how many scandals trail behind them.”
She added: “The government must urgently remove Palantir from all public contracts, and establish a full independent public inquiry into Peter Mandelson’s role, his contacts, and who he was really working for.”
The Conservative Party and Global Counsel did not respond to questions from Declassified.
Martin Williams is Declassified UK’s chief investigator
