Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the United Kingdom as the "Islamic Republic of Britain" during a podcast interview released this week, according to a report by Ynetnews. The remark, made as part of a broader critique of British domestic and foreign policy, has drawn condemnation from officials in London and added fresh strain to an already deteriorating relationship between the two governments.
What Netanyahu Said
In the interview, Netanyahu used the phrase to mock what he characterized as the UK’s handling of Islamist extremism, immigration policy and free-speech debates at home, while simultaneously criticizing Britain’s posture toward Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The comment echoes a line of attack Netanyahu and allied Israeli officials have increasingly deployed against Western European governments they accuse of appeasing extremism domestically while pressuring Israel abroad.
Netanyahu’s office has not issued a formal walk-back of the remarks, and Israeli officials close to the prime minister have suggested the comment was intended as pointed political commentary rather than a literal characterization of British governance.
A Relationship Already Under Strain
The podcast remarks did not emerge in isolation. Relations between Jerusalem and London have soured markedly over the past year as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government moved toward recognizing a Palestinian state and joined other European allies in publicly criticizing the scale of Israeli military operations in Gaza. Britain has also imposed sanctions on individual Israeli ministers over settler violence in the West Bank, a step Israeli officials have called a betrayal by a longstanding ally.
Those tensions have only deepened following Netanyahu’s order for the Israeli military to expand its control over Gaza territory, a move detailed in NarwhalTV’s earlier coverage of Netanyahu’s directive to seize roughly 70 percent of the Gaza Strip, which critics say violates the terms of a prior ceasefire arrangement. British officials cited that expansion, along with the humanitarian toll of the war, as central to their decision to harden their public stance toward Israel’s government.
British Reaction
UK government figures and members of Parliament reacted swiftly to Netanyahu’s podcast comments, calling them inflammatory and unhelpful at a moment when diplomatic channels between the two countries are already strained. Some British Jewish community leaders also distanced themselves from the remark, warning that rhetoric framing the UK in terms of Islamic governance risks inflaming domestic tensions around religion and immigration rather than addressing the substance of policy disagreements over Gaza.
Members of the British Muslim community and civil liberties groups additionally criticized the comment as an attempt to conflate legitimate criticism of Israeli policy with religious extremism, a framing they argue has become a recurring feature of Netanyahu’s public messaging toward European critics.
Context: Israel’s Broader Feud With European Allies
Netanyahu has increasingly used interviews and podcast appearances to bypass traditional diplomatic and media channels, speaking directly to sympathetic audiences in Israel and abroad. The strategy mirrors a broader trend among global leaders turning to long-form podcast formats to control their message, a shift that has reshaped political communication well beyond the Middle East.
The UK is not alone in facing this kind of rhetorical pushback from Netanyahu’s government. Israeli officials have leveled similar criticism at France, Ireland, Spain and other European states that have taken steps toward recognizing Palestinian statehood or restricting arms sales to Israel. Netanyahu has repeatedly argued that such moves reward what he calls terrorism and undermine Israel’s right to self-defense following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks that triggered the current war.
British officials, for their part, maintain that their criticism of specific Israeli policies in Gaza and the West Bank does not equate to hostility toward Israel as a state, and that recognizing Palestinian statehood is a long-standing element of UK foreign policy aimed at reviving a two-state solution.
What Comes Next
It remains unclear whether Netanyahu’s comments will prompt any formal diplomatic response from London beyond public criticism. Analysts note that with ceasefire negotiations over Gaza still fragile and humanitarian conditions in the territory under intense international scrutiny, further rhetorical clashes between Israeli and European leaders are likely in the weeks ahead.
Downing Street has not indicated any change to its Israel policy in response to the remarks, and the Israeli embassy in London has yet to issue a formal statement addressing the diplomatic fallout. Observers say the episode is likely to be raised in upcoming discussions between British and Israeli diplomats, even as both governments continue to describe their underlying bilateral relationship as strong despite the current friction.
