Netanyahu Brands UK 'Islamic Republic' With Nukes
Netanyahu Brands UK 'Islamic Republic' With Nukes
The News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Britain "the Islamic Republic of Britain" in a podcast interview and joked it would be the first Islamic republic to get a nuclear weapon.
The remarks came on the Army Radio podcast "Melech B'leyatzer Chayim," released Thursday, and were reported Friday by the Times of Israel, The Guardian, Al Jazeera and the Daily Mail.
They land as Israel's relations with the UK's Labour government are already strained — and 10 weeks before Israel's October 27 election.
What He Said
Netanyahu was praising Randolph Churchill — son of Winston Churchill — for coverage of the June 1967 Six Day War that he called favorable to Israel.
"They came here and covered the Six Day War in a way that was very positive for us," Netanyahu said, according to the Times of Israel. "Try finding that in Britain today. What's called 'the Islamic Republic of Britain'."
The host, Avi Harush — whose 20-year-old son Reef was killed fighting in Gaza in April 2024 — asked whether all of Europe was not already like that.
Netanyahu said yes, and added: "Someone said that the first Islamic republic with nuclear weapons will be the Islamic Republic of Britain… so we're making sure there won't be another one in Iran."
The Guardian noted that Pakistan — officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan — has held nuclear weapons since the 1990s, and described Netanyahu's line as playing into a far-right trope about Britain's Muslim population.
Timeline
Then-Senator JD Vance told the National Conservatism Conference in Washington that the UK, under a newly elected Labour government, was poised to become "the first truly Islamist country with nuclear weapons," adding that "Pakistan already kind of counts." Days later he was named Donald Trump's running mate.
Shortly before taking office as UK prime minister, Andy Burnham apologized for Labour's initial response to Israel's military action in Gaza, saying the party "didn't get it right" and needed to "do better," The Guardian reported.
Burnham said he would "do more to put pressure on the Israeli government," including further sanctions on individuals and entities and a possible ban on trade in goods from illegal settlements.
The Army Radio podcast episode with Netanyahu is released.
The comments draw international coverage and criticism from Netanyahu's domestic opponents.
Reactions
Avi Dabush, running for the Knesset with Israel's opposition Democrats party, accused Netanyahu of mocking a critical ally while Israel faces deep international isolation.
"That's what happens when there's a horrific diplomatic failure, and an inability to rally countries in the world in favour of our interests," Dabush wrote in a social media post quoted by The Guardian.
The Prime Minister's Office did not respond to The Guardian's questions about whether the statement reflected the Israeli government's official position. Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Netanyahu has argued before that large Muslim populations are turning European nations against Israel, the Times of Israel reported.
The Studio Question
Haaretz reported that the episode was filmed at the Petah Tikva studio of NVP, a production company contracted by Netanyahu's Likud party ahead of the October 27 election, rather than at Army Radio's headquarters in Jaffa, where earlier episodes were recorded.
Army Radio said Netanyahu's office asked to record at the NVP studio for security reasons, according to Haaretz. The paper cited an unnamed security official saying the Shin Bet's Personal Security Unit made no such request, and noted that Army Radio's own offices sit inside a secure military facility.
What's Next
Watch for whether the Prime Minister's Office clarifies the remark as personal opinion or government position, and whether Burnham's government responds publicly.
Israel votes on October 27, and Netanyahu's rivals are already using the comment to argue he has burned allies abroad.
The American angle to watch: Vance, who first made the "Islamist country with nuclear weapons" argument in 2024, has since become a critic of Netanyahu inside the Trump administration and a skeptic of the US-Israeli war against Iran, per the Times of Israel.
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