Netanyahu mocks UK as 'Islamic Republic of Britain' In podcast remarks

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Britain during a podcast appearance, calling it the "Islamic Republic of Britain" While discussing media coverage of the Six-Day War. Netanyahu made the remarks on Avi Harush's Melech Blitzer Haim podcast while commenting on journalist Randolph Churchill, son of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, saying Churchill had covered the conflict in a way that was "very positive toward us."

"Go find that in Britain today, in what is called the Islamic Republic of Britain. Go find it," Netanyahu said.

When asked whether he believed Europe had similarly transformed, Netanyahu invoked a statement attributed to U.S. Vice President JD Vance from two years earlier. "Someone said the first Islamic republic with nuclear weapons will be the Islamic Republic of Britain," Netanyahu said. "We are making sure there won't be another one here, in Iran."

The comments prompted a rebuke from Avi Dabush of the Democrats party list. "You are a prime minister. You have responsibility, there is such a word, and you sit there making jokes about Britain," Dabush wrote on X. "A member of the Security Council that is six times the size of Israel."

Britain's Labour government, led by Andy Burnham, is seen as critical of Israel, though the United Kingdom remains one of Israel's significant international partners with extensive ties across multiple sectors.