NETANYAHU SPARK CONTROVERSY BY CALLING UK ‘ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF BRITAIN’

Israeli Prime Minister mocks European tilt against Israel in local radio interview, drawing criticism over inflammatory remarks

TEL AVIV : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sparked international friction after deriding the United Kingdom as the "Islamic Republic of Britain" during a live interview with Israel's Army Radio.

Reflecting on past media coverage from the 1967 Six-Day War, Netanyahu highlighted how British journalists once covered Israel favorably, contrasting it with what he characterized as a sharp hostility from current European governments and media institutions.

“Try to find that now in Britain, which you could call the Islamic Republic of Britain,” Netanyahu said during the broadcast. When asked by the interviewer whether Europe as a whole was heading in the same direction, Netanyahu agreed, adding, “The first nuclear Islamic republic will be the Islamic Republic of Britain—we’re making sure there won’t be another one in Iran.”

The remarks come amidst heightened diplomatic tensions between London and Jerusalem over Britain’s increasingly critical stance on ongoing Israeli military operations and regional policy in the Middle East. British officials and international commentators have condemned the comments as inflammatory and reductive, while Israeli diplomatic representatives have sought to frame the Prime Minister's statements as a rhetorical critique of European political trends.