Netanyahu derides UK as 'Islamic Republic of Great Britain'

**Pete Ross** (0:00)
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Pete Ross and this edition is published in the later hours of Friday the 14th of August. Raised eyebrows in Britain, as Benjamin Netanyahu calls the UK an Islamic Republic. In Japan, several people have died after unprecedented rainfall causes flooding and landslides, as the UN raises food security fears if the extreme weather continues.
Also in this podcast, the leader of Britain's right-wing reform party, Nigel Farage, is re-elected as an MP.

**Nigel Farage** (0:37)
In the middle of August, in holiday season, we have secured far more votes than we got in the general election of 2020

**Pete Ross** (0:47)
But investigations into his finances go on.
Relations between Israel and the UK have been strained for a while, but the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appears to have risked making them worse still, by suggesting Britain is now an Islamic Republic. In a podcast with Israeli Army Radio, Mr Netanyahu recalled meeting the grandson of Winston Churchill, describing him as a lover of Israel. Then remarking that you won't find that kind of attitude in the UK now, which he said was known as the Islamic Republic of Britain. He'd been talking about how the Six Day War in 1967 was reported on by Winston Churchill's son and grandson, both journalists at the time.

**Benjamin Netanyahu** (1:37)
By the way, he and his father, Randolph Churchill's son, came here and covered the Six Day War here in a very positive way for us. Try finding that in Britain now, in what is called the Islamic Republic of Britain.

**Pete Ross** (1:49)
A spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, David Mentzer, said Mr. Netanyahu was merely quoting the American Vice President, JD Vance.

**David Mentzer** (1:57)
He was making a quote that someone else had given. His words exactly were, someone had called it that.
When you look into it, it was actually Vice President Vance, JD Vance that made those comments at the Munich Security Summit but also to a convention in 2024 So those are the words of the Vice President.

**Pete Ross** (2:16)
I asked our correspondent in Jerusalem, Yul Anel, what we should make of the comments.

**Yul Anel** (2:21)
Well, he's speaking in a long podcast with a host on Israeli Army Radio, a man who lost his son in Gaza. And you have to remember that the Israeli Prime Minister is currently in campaign mode with these elections due at the end of October, and he's currently trailing in the polls. Now, he recalled meeting the writer, grandson of Winston Churchill, also called Winston, whom he said had represented Israel in a very positive way, along with his father Randolph, before he went on to contrast that relationship with the UK today. And he said, try to find that now in Britain. You could call it the Islamic Republic of Britain. And he added that, you know, it could potentially be the first Islamic Republic with nuclear weapons seemingly forgetting about the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. And it's really being read as, you know, underlining the deterioration, I guess, in relations between Israel and the UK. These are two countries that have historically been close allies. They cooperate diplomatically and on security matters. And a lot of that has been to do with Britain taking a more critical stance over Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza. And the Israeli government has repeatedly criticized the UK's labour government since it moved to recognize a Palestinian state. Mr. Netanyahu argues that such measures risk rewarding Hamas. But it's not just the UK. He's also saying that it's demographic changes across all of Europe, Muslims immigrating to Europe, that has led to kind of increased criticism of Israel's policies when he's asked about Israel's increased isolation on the international stage.

**Pete Ross** (3:53)
These comments were made in Hebrew on an army podcast. It's clearly for an Israeli audience. Do you think he expected them to go more widespread than that? And if so, what should we make of it?

**Yul Anel** (4:04)
Yes, certainly it was primarily for a domestic audience. And as I say, he's in campaign mode. But also, this is an important moment, isn't it? We've just got a new prime minister in the UK, Andy Burnham. He has been looking to recalibrate Labour's position on the Middle East. He has apologised for the Labour Party's initial response to Israeli actions in Gaza, where the former prime minister was deemed to have been slow in calling for a ceasefire. He said that Labour must do better. And in a video message just last month, he said that the UK should be clear in criticism of events in Gaza and simultaneously should condemn the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 Anti-Semitism, that is the different incidents that have been happening in the UK.