{"id":737823,"date":"2026-08-14T14:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T14:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/737823\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T14:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T14:12:10","slug":"benjamin-netanyahu-describes-uk-as-first-islamic-republic-to-get-a-nuclear-weapon-benjamin-netanyahu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/737823\/","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin Netanyahu describes UK as \u2018first Islamic republic to get a nuclear weapon\u2019 | Benjamin Netanyahu"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a>, called the UK \u201cthe Islamic republic of Britain\u201d in a podcast interview, where he also described the country as the \u201cfirst Islamic republic to get a nuclear weapon\u201d.<\/p>\n

His comments, made during an interview for Israel\u2019s army radio, played into a common far-right Islamophobic trope about Britain\u2019s small Muslim population.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu praised positive coverage of Israel by the journalist Randolph Churchill, the son of former prime minister Winston Churchill, over half a century ago, then said: \u201cGo find that in today\u2019s Britain, in what is called the Islamic republic of Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than challenge Netanyahu\u2019s comments, the host questioned whether he is unfairly singling out the UK, asking: \u201cIsn\u2019t all of Europe is like that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Netanyahu replies by doubling down. \u201cYes, but you know someone said the first Islamic republic with nuclear weapons will be the Islamic republic of Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, has had a nuclear arsenal since the 1990s.<\/p>\n

Relations between the UK and Israel have been increasingly strained in recent months, especially since Andy Burnham took over in No 10. Shortly before becoming prime minister, he apologised for Labour\u2019s initial response to Israel\u2019s military action in Gaza<\/a>, saying the party \u201cdidn\u2019t get it right\u201d and needed to \u201cdo better\u201d under his leadership, signalling a significant shift in the UK\u2019s approach to the Middle East.<\/p>\n

In July, he said he would \u201cdo more to put pressure on the Israeli government\u201d, including through further sanctions on individuals and entities, as well as a potential ban on the trade of goods with illegal settlements.<\/p>\n

The US vice-president JD Vance suggested the UK could become an \u2018Islamist country\u2019 in 2024. Photograph: Alex Wong\/Getty<\/p>\n

The US vice-president, JD Vance, made remarks<\/a> similar to Netanyahu\u2019s comments<\/a> during the 2024 presidential campaign, saying the UK could become the first \u201ctruly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon\u201d.<\/p>\n

London\u2019s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has also been a frequent target of racialised attacks from rightwing leaders abroad, including<\/a> Donald Trump, seeking to gain political advantage from Islamophobic lies.<\/p>\n

Muslim leaders in the UK have said that hate crimes targeting their community are hitting new levels<\/a> amid a rise in far-right rhetoric and growing support for anti-immigrant political parties.<\/p>\n

Avi Dabush, who is running for the Knesset with Israel\u2019s opposition Democrats party, attacked Netanyahu for mocking a critical ally at a time when Israel faces unprecedented global isolation. \u201cThat\u2019s what happens when there\u2019s a horrific diplomatic failure, and an inability to rally countries in the world in favour of our interests,\u201d he said in a social media post.<\/p>\n

Leading the most far-right government in Israel\u2019s history<\/a>, Netanyahu has alienated traditional allies while aligning with far-right figures, including some with a history of antisemitism.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister\u2019s Office did not respond to requests for comment on whether Netanyahu\u2019s statement represented the official position of the Israeli government. The British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called the UK \u201cthe Islamic republic of Britain\u201d in a podcast interview,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-737823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}