- British government says it raised the matter with Jerusalem; Israeli spokesman downplays remark, claims PM was quoting Vance
Britain on Friday hit back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he called the country an “Islamic republic,” branding the remarks as “completely unacceptable.”
The UK additionally said it has “raised” the matter with Jerusalem.
“These comments are completely unacceptable and we have raised them with the Israeli government,” a UK government spokesman said.
The diplomatic dispute came after the prime minister made the reference in an Army Radio podcast interview, in which he also swiped at the UK’s stance on Israel.
Netanyahu, who has long shown his admiration for Winston Churchill, noted on the podcast that the son and grandson of the World War II-era British leader were journalists who produced pro-Israel reporting on the June 1967 Six-Day War.
“They came here and covered the Six Day War in a way that was very positive for us,” Netanyahu said on the bereavement-themed “Melech B’leyatzer Chayim” (King at Creating Life) podcast. “Try finding that in Britain today. What’s called ‘the Islamic republic of Britain’.”
released in August 13, 2026.
After Netanyahu called Britain an “Islamic republic,” podcast host Avi Harush, whose 20-year-old son Reef was killed fighting in Gaza in April 2024, asked whether “all of Europe isn’t already like that,” referring to the growth of Muslim communities across the continent.
Netanyahu said yes, and continued: “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.”
In a BBC radio interview on Friday, prior to the British statement, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer appeared to downplay Netanyahu’s comments.
“[Netanyahu] was making a quote that someone else had given,” Mencer said, noting US Vice President JD Vance had “made those comments” previously.
“He was quoting what the vice president had said.”
US Vice President JD Vance made a similar comment about the UK at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington in July 2024, days before being tapped as Donald Trump’s running mate.
Vance, then a US senator for Ohio, said that the UK was poised to become “the first truly Islamist country with nuclear weapons” after Britain’s Labour party took power earlier that month, but added that “Pakistan already kind of counts.”
Vance has since emerged as a critic of Israel within the Trump administration, and as a skeptic of the US-Israeli war against Iran.
initiatives in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington,
DC, on August 5, 2026. (Mandel NGAN/AFP)
Like the Republican White House, Netanyahu has claimed Europe is being taken over by Muslim immigrants.
He has argued that large Muslim populations were turning European nations against Israel, amid growing criticism from European nations — including some led by immigration skeptics — of Israel’s actions in Gaza since the Hamas onslaught on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Britain was one of several European countries that recognized Palestinian statehood last year, infuriating Israel.
More recently, its new leader, Prime Minister Andy Burnham, has said that his predecessor Keir Starmer did not put enough pressure on Israel to halt its offensive in Gaza.
at Downing Street on the UK’s ongoing response to extreme heat, wildfires and drought in
London, August 12, 2026.
In an interview with The Guardian shortly before taking office, Burnham also said that Britain would consider banning trade in goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Britain, usually closely aligned with Washington, has additionally kept its distance from the US-Israeli war launched in February against Iran, although Starmer allowed the US to use UK bases to launch “defensive” strikes aimed at destroying Iranian missiles and their launchers.
BY: The Times Union – AFP
