Netanyahu’s Explosive Remark About Britain Triggers Diplomatic Backlash

The remark came while Netanyahu discussed Winston Churchill’s son and grandson, both journalists who covered the 1967 Six-Day War favorably for Israel. “Try to find that now in Britain, which you could call the Islamic republic of Britain,” Netanyahu said, chuckling, according to multiple outlets’ transcripts of the interview. When host Avi Harush asked whether that description applied to “all of Europe,” not just Britain, Netanyahu said “yes” — then extended the bit rather than retreating from it: “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 line wasn’t original. JD Vance made a nearly identical joke in 2024, calling Britain “the first truly Islamist country” that would possess a nuclear weapon — a comparison several outlets flagged directly, framing Netanyahu’s remark as an echo rather than a new provocation. What’s different this time is who’s saying it and when: a sitting prime minister, not a vice-presidential candidate, delivering the line as Israel’s relations with several European governments — Britain prominent among them — grow visibly more strained over Gaza policy.

The backlash arrived from multiple directions inside Israel’s own political and religious establishment. Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy, co-leaders of the UK’s Movement for Progressive Judaism, said they were “appalled,” warning that language conflating British Muslims with a national threat was “dangerous and irresponsible” at a moment of rising antisemitism and anti-Muslim sentiment in Britain alike — and stressed Netanyahu “does not speak for British Jews.” Democrats party Knesset candidate Avi Dabosch called the comment a “terrible diplomatic failure,” arguing that mocking a key ally while Israel faces what he described as unprecedented international isolation was self-defeating regardless of intent.

The substance of Netanyahu’s complaint traces to a real rift. New Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office in July following Keir Starmer’s resignation, has moved his government toward a tougher posture on Israel — apologizing for Labour’s earlier stance on Gaza, backing sanctions on Israeli officials and institutions, and supporting possible trade restrictions on goods from illegal settlements. That policy shift, not any actual change in Britain’s demographics or governance, is almost certainly what Netanyahu’s joke was needling, even if the phrasing landed as a broader statement about British Muslims.

Neither Netanyahu’s office nor Britain’s Foreign Office had issued a formal response as of Friday, leaving open whether the remark gets walked back as podcast banter or hardens into a fresh diplomatic sore point between the two governments.