Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper on Wednesday published an interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which Netanyahu blasted Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s “misguided” new government and accused it of “sending a horrible message to Hamas” as “shameless antisemitism” is on display across the country.
His comments follow Britain’s decision earlier this month to suspend 30 arms export licenses to Israel, as well as Labour’s dropping of Britain’s objections to an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant being issued against Netanyahu.
“After the October 7 Hamas massacre, the previous British government [under Rishi Sunak] was clear in its support. Unfortunately, the current government is sending mixed messages,” Netanyahu told the Daily Mail.
“They say that Israel has the right to defend itself, but they undermine our ability to exercise that right both by reversing Britain’s position on the absurd allegations made by the ICC Prosecutor against Israel and by blocking weapons sales to Israel as we fight against the genocidal terrorist organization that carried out the October 7 massacre,” he added.
“Most recently,” continued Netanyahu, “the new UK government suspended 30 arms licenses to Israel, days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, sending a horrible message to Hamas.”
“These misguided decisions will not change Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas [which] savagely murdered 1,200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens, and took 255 people including five British hostages,” the Prime Minister told the newspaper.
Asked by the Daily Mail about his conditions for a ceasefire, Netanyahu replied, “We will destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, return the hostages and ensure Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future.”
“We do not intend to occupy Gaza,” Netanyahu stressed. “After Hamas is destroyed, Gaza will need to be demilitarized and deradicalized and rebuilt by peace-seeking parties.”
Netanyahu was asked whether, in the event diplomacy should fail, he was willing to go to war in Lebanon, and replied, “Hezbollah’s unprovoked attacks on Israel beginning on October 8 have caused 60,000 Israelis to evacuate their homes along our border with Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon.”
“Israel has eliminated about 650 Hezbollah terrorists, including their senior military commander, and destroyed thousands of rockets. We do not seek escalation in Lebanon, but are committed to return our citizens safely to their homes. That will be achieved diplomatically or with other means,” he added.
In the wake of reports that Iran may have been passed nuclear secrets by Russia, Netanyahu told the Daily Mail that it is high time that Britain woke up to the menace of the mullahs.
“For the past 30 years I have warned the world about the threat posed by Iran, and Israel has acted to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,” he said. “Our actions delayed a nuclear Iran by about a decade, but the jury is still out on all of us [sic]. Today, Iran is closer to becoming a nuclear power. This would threaten Israel, Britain and the entire world. Today, more and more countries understand that.”
“What are required are crippling sanctions and a credible military threat to prevent Iran from completing its pursuit of nuclear weapons. What is also needed is a common defense against its aggression in the Middle East,” he continued.
“I was encouraged by the international coalition that helped ward off Iran’s rocketing of Israel in April, and that same coalition is in place now. I appreciate the fact that this policy is continued by the present British government.”