London, Thanasis Gavos

The accusation that he “undermines” Israel is leveled against British Prime Minister Keir Starmer by Benjamin Netanyahu with his statements to the Daily Mail.

The reason for the strong criticism from the Israeli Prime Minister is the British government’s “misguided” decisions regarding arms exports to Israel and the attitude towards the prospect of an arrest warrant being issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“After the 7 October massacre by Hamas the previous British government was clear about its support. Unfortunately the current government is sending mixed messages. He says Israel has a right to self-defence, but is undermining our ability to exercise that right by both reversing Britain’s position on the ICC prosecutor’s outrageous accusations against Israel and blocking arms sales to Israel while we are fighting against the genocidal terrorist organization that carried out the massacre of October 7,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

The Starmer government has suspended 30 arms export licenses from British companies to Israel and has also lifted objections to international arrest warrants for Netanyahu and the Israeli defense minister.

“These misguided decisions will not bend Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas,” adds the Israeli leader.

He points out that the Palestinian organization has killed and kidnapped British citizens and likens his country’s war against Hamas to Britain’s heroic resistance to the Nazis.

He also notes that Britain is experiencing a worrying rise in anti-Semitism “in universities, city centers and in many parts of the country”.

A Foreign Office spokesman commented that Britain remains “a friend of Israel”, but that there are concerns about the country’s compliance with international humanitarian law in the way it exercises the right to self-defence.