Britain on Friday hit again at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he referred to as the nation an “Islamic republic,” branding the remarks as “utterly unacceptable.”
The UK moreover stated it has “raised” the matter with Jerusalem.
“These feedback are utterly unacceptable and we have now raised them with the Israeli authorities,” a UK authorities spokesman stated.
The diplomatic dispute got here after the prime minister made the reference in an Military Radio podcast interview, by which he additionally swiped on the UK’s stance on Israel.
Netanyahu, who has lengthy proven his admiration for Winston Churchill, famous on the podcast that the son and grandson of the World Conflict II-era British chief had been journalists who produced pro-Israel reporting on the June 1967 Six-Day Conflict.
“They got here right here and coated the Six Day Conflict in a means that was very constructive for us,” Netanyahu stated on the bereavement-themed “Melech B’leyatzer Chayim” (King at Creating Life) podcast. “Strive discovering that in Britain right this moment. What’s referred to as ‘the Islamic republic of Britain’.”
After Netanyahu referred to as Britain an “Islamic republic,” podcast host Avi Harush, whose 20-year-old son Reef was killed preventing in Gaza in April 2024, requested whether or not “all of Europe isn’t already like that,” referring to the expansion of Muslim communities throughout the continent.
Netanyahu stated sure, and continued: “Somebody stated that the primary Islamic republic with nuclear weapons would be the Islamic Republic of Britain… so we’re ensuring there gained’t be one other one in Iran.”
Netanyahu on Britain:
You would possibly name Britain the “Islamic Republic of Britain.”
Somebody stated that the primary Islamic republic with nuclear weapons would be the Islamic Republic of Britain.
We’re ensuring there gained’t be one other one—, in Iran. pic.twitter.com/EmLpSvYtxu
— Conflict Report (@clashreport) August 13, 2026
In a BBC radio interview on Friday, previous to the British assertion, Israeli authorities spokesman David Mencer appeared to downplay Netanyahu’s feedback.
“[Netanyahu] was making a quote that another person had given,” Mencer stated, noting US Vice President JD Vance had “made these feedback” beforehand.
“He was quoting what the vice chairman had stated.”
US Vice President JD Vance made an identical remark in regards to the UK on the Nationwide Conservatism Convention in Washington in July 2024, days earlier than being tapped as Donald Trump’s working mate.
Vance, then a US senator for Ohio, stated that the UK was poised to turn out to be “the primary really Islamist nation with nuclear weapons” after Britain’s Labour social gathering took energy earlier that month, including that “Pakistan already sort of counts.”
Vance has since emerged as a critic of Israel throughout the Trump administration, and as a skeptic of the US-Israeli battle in opposition to Iran.
Just like the Republican White Home, Netanyahu has claimed Europe is being taken over by Muslim immigrants.
He has argued that enormous Muslim populations had been turning European nations in opposition to Israel, amid rising criticism from European nations — including some led by immigration skeptics — of Israel’s actions in Gaza because the Hamas onslaught on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Britain was considered one of a number of European international locations that acknowledged Palestinian statehood final yr, infuriating Israel.
Extra just lately, its new chief, Prime Minister Andy Burnham, has stated that his predecessor Keir Starmer didn’t put sufficient strain on Israel to halt its offensive in Gaza.
In an interview with The Guardian shortly earlier than taking workplace, Burnham additionally stated that Britain would contemplate banning commerce in items from Israeli settlements within the West Financial institution.
Britain, often intently aligned with Washington, has moreover saved its distance from the US-Israeli battle launched in February in opposition to Iran, though Starmer allowed the US to make use of UK bases to launch “defensive” strikes geared toward destroying Iranian missiles and their launchers.
