Benjamin Netanyahu has branded Britain the “Islamic Republic of Britain”, escalating an increasingly bitter confrontation between Israel’s government and the Labour administration in London.
The Israeli prime minister made the inflammatory remark during a podcast interview with Avi Harush, a former Israeli military officer whose son was killed fighting in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu recalled meeting the grandson of Winston Churchill, whom he said had represented Israel in a “very positive way”, before contrasting that relationship with modern Britain.
“Try to find that now in Britain, which you could call the Islamic Republic of Britain,” he said, adding that someone had described it as potentially the first Islamic republic with nuclear weapons.
His comments underline the deterioration in relations between two countries that have historically been close diplomatic and security partners, as Britain has adopted an increasingly critical stance towards Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
The Israeli government has repeatedly criticised Labour since the previous administration moved to recognise a Palestinian state, with Mr Netanyahu arguing that such measures risk rewarding Hamas.
The rhetoric has echoes in Washington. JD Vance, the US vice-president, warned in 2024 that Britain could become the first “truly Islamic country” to acquire a nuclear weapon, comments that prompted a diplomatic backlash.
Britain’s Muslim population is estimated at about 6.5 per cent, compared with roughly 18 per cent in Israel.
The latest escalation comes as Prime Minister Andy Burnham seeks to recalibrate Labour’s position on the Middle East. Mr Burnham has apologised for the party’s initial response to Israel’s actions in Gaza and said Labour must “do better”.
In a video message last month, he said Britain should be “clear in our criticism” of events in Gaza while simultaneously condemning Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack and subsequent antisemitic incidents in Britain.
His government is expected to take a harder line than its predecessor, although Mr Burnham has stopped short of describing Israel’s actions as genocide, a term used by some Labour MPs.
The diplomatic rupture is unfolding against a broader regional crisis involving Israel, the US and Iran. Fighting and strikes have continued while disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz threatens to prolong pressure on energy markets and household costs.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has warned that restoring freedom of navigation through the strategic waterway and securing a durable ceasefire are “essential” to easing cost-of-living pressures on British households.
For London and Jerusalem, however, the immediate problem is increasingly political rather than economic: a once-close alliance is being tested by profoundly different assessments of Israel’s war, Britain’s role in the Middle East and the limits of diplomatic restraint.
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