Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has referred to the United Kingdom as the “Islamic Republic of Britain”, a dig at one of Israel’s historically closest European allies. Netanyahu made the remark on the Israeli podcast Melech Blitzer Haim that aired on Thursday as he objected to British media coverage of Israel. As an example, Netanyahu pointed to British writer Randolph Churchill, who he praised for his “positive” coverage of Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Netanyahu then added sarcastically: “Go find that in Britain today, which you could call the Islamic Republic of Britain,” according to translated comments published by Israeli media. Later in the podcast, Netanyahu appeared to reference comments made by JD Vance in 2022 that the UK may constitute the first nuclear-armed “Islamist country”. A British and Irish Jewish group criticised the Israeli prime minister’s comments as hateful and divisive.
His words do not represent us,” they said. Despite traditionally strong ties, tensions between the Israeli and British governments have grown since the progressive Labour Party took power in the UK in 2024. Under former Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the UK paused free trade talks with Israel and suspended some arms export licences.
Like France, the UK has also imposed sanctions on far-right Israeli cabinet members Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Last year, the UK joined allies, including France and Canada, in recognising a Palestinian state. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently apologised for Labour’s initial response to Israel’s actions in Gaza, saying the party was too slow to call for a ceasefire.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
