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| Benjamin Netanyahu tells NATALIE LISBONA: 'Britain under Burnham is like a rogue state - attacking Israel while appeasing an Islamist, leftist alliance' | |
| 2026-10-04 | |
[DM] Gaining access to the man who – with the exception of Donald Trump – must be the most heavily protected individual on the planet was never going to be straightforward, but nothing could have prepared me for the ordeal to come.
We negotiated the anti-ramming bollards outside and showed our IDs as we passed through a wrought-iron gate and entered a world of scanners and X-ray machines that would put the most exacting airport screening to shame. As the security checks got under way, we were surrounded by armed guards carrying MI6 assault rifles and, two hours later, I was still there as the Daily Mail photographer had all of his equipment taken apart to ensure that none of it contained explosives. No one knows about the lethal potential of electronic devices better than the Israelis, who two years ago killed and injured hundreds of members of Hezbollah by triggering explosives concealed in pagers and walkie-talkies. My interview with Netanyahu had been arranged for 8.30pm on Thursday, but it was past nine by the time I got to the purpose-built studio where our conversation was to take place. There were more armed men, this time special forces troops, masked up and dressed in black. The prime minister arrived shortly afterwards and, after a warm handshake, motioned me to a chair opposite him at the long oak table that dominated the room. For a man who has spent the three years since the October 7 attacks negotiating one crisis after another, not least the Flydubai hijack attempt just 18 hours earlier, he looked surprisingly relaxed. Dressed in a dark suit – with an enamel badge of the Israeli flag on his lapel – and a white shirt with a royal blue tie, it was soon clear he meant business. Britain's Labour Government, he said, was behaving 'like a rogue state' and appeasing an 'Islamist Leftist alliance'. He was referring to its decision last month to ban trade with Israeli settlements on the West Bank, which followed Keir Starmer's decision to withhold some arms licences and to recognise a Palestinian state before all of the October 7 hostages had been freed. He was particularly incensed by the move because it coincided with Israeli intelligence tipping off our security services about an impending Iran-sponsored 'murderous attack' on RAF Fairford. 'It was stopped. It was prevented,' he said, adding that, without the intelligence Israel provided, 'it would probably have gone through and we don't know how many British lives would have been lost'. Netanyahu insisted Israel still regarded London as an ally, but then launched an extraordinary broadside against the Government. 'It's mind-blowing hypocrisy, I don't know how many lives we have saved giving Britain information about impending attacks. 'They're appeasing, they're attacking Israel, [the country] that is fighting the terrorists in the terrorist regime that is attacking them. They appease their enemies, and they attack their protectors, really. That's what's happening. But this is a twist of both logic and justice. It doesn't serve Britain well, it doesn't serve the world well.' Netanyahu, who confirmed that he is yet to speak to Andy Burnham despite the fact the former Manchester mayor took office in July, went on to accuse Labour of bowing to domestic pressure over its approach to Israel. 'There is a pressure from inside Britain to appease these various Islamist forces in Britain. And once you start appeasing, you don't stop. That's what we learn. Churchill called it the slumber of democracies. And by that he meant the democracy sort of slumbers while their enemies begin to attack them… until they hear the jarring gong of danger. 'Well, it's gonging all the way, and they still haven't woken up.' Asked how he would characterise relations between the two countries, Netanyahu was equally forthright. 'Well, it's not very good, is it? I mean, when they appease our common enemies and attack us, it doesn't say much. 'Look, we're fighting the battle, I call it the Battle of Britain, the Battle of Western civilisation against these barbarians. And there's so much deception. There's so much propaganda. I mean, trying to glorify Hamas, trying to glorify the Islamists that have killed Britons. It killed Americans, it killed Israelis. It killed nationals of dozens and dozens of countries. 'And Israel is painted as this great devil. We're not the devil. We're a tiny country fighting here in the heart of the Middle East, not only to protect ourselves, but also to protect the modern Arab states against the Iranian domination and these murderous proxies. 'We always consider Britain as an ally, even though we have, on occasion, differences with them.' He suggested the relationship was in danger of deteriorating to the point where the British Government, 'in order to ingratiate itself with its political base, has gone rogue. Like a rogue state'. He argued that Labour should view the 'Islamist Leftist alliance' as 'natural adversaries'. 'What do these people do? They hang gays, you know, they deprive women of any rights. They murder their own people in Gaza, or Lebanon, or Iran. Executing all their enemies. They are the opposite of democracies. And what does the government in Britain do? It turns on the one democracy that is fighting these monstrous regimes in this terrible state, the worst terrorist state on the planet. That's what Britain is doing.' Israel and Britain maintain extensive intelligence ties, particularly when it comes to terrorism, Iran and regional security. But asked whether Israel would continue sharing intelligence, Netanyahu refused to be drawn. 'I won't get into that, but we just did,' he said, referring to the Fairford incident. 'That's a fact.' Related: Benjamin Netanyahu 10/03/2026 FlyDubai Day 4: Israel is searching for those behind the FlyDubai attack, Omani hijacker named Benjamin Netanyahu 10/02/2026 Israel PM Netanyahu praises man who stopped Israel-Dubai plane hijacking: ‘I see a lion' Benjamin Netanyahu 10/02/2026 US Energy Department employee charged with trying to aid Iran-backed Houthis | |
| Posted by:Clyde Thaviling6482 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2026-10-04 03:56 |