In a video posted on X addressing Thursday’s attack on Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC, Netanyahu said Starmer , Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney wanted Israel to “stand down and accept that Hamas’s army of mass murderers will survive”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Keir Starmer and other leaders have “effectively said they want Hamas to remain in power”. He also accused British, French and Canadian leaders of siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.
In a video posted on X addressing Thursday’s attack on Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC, Netanyahu said Starmer , Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney wanted Israel to “stand down and accept that Hamas’s army of mass murderers will survive”. Downing Street has declined to comment directly on Netanyahu’s remarks, but pointed to Sir Keir’s previous condemnation of the Washington attack on X. In that post, Starmer called antisemitism an “evil we must stamp out”.
On Monday, the UK, France and Canada condemned the expanded Israeli military operation and denial of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, and threatened concrete actions if they did not stop. Netanyahu said Hamas want to destroy Israel and annihilate the Jewish people. “I could never understand how this simple truth evades the leaders of France, Britain, Canada and others. I say to President Macron, Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Starmer, when mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers thank you, you’re on the wrong side of justice. You’re on the wrong side of humanity, and you’re on the wrong side of history,” he added.
An Israeli minister, Amichai Chikli, said Starmer and other leaders had been “emboldening the forces of terror”. Earlier, the UK prime minister said he was “horrified” by Israel’s actions and called the situation in Gaza “intolerable”, adding that Israel’s decision to allow only a small amount of aid into Gaza was “utterly inadequate”.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described the current Israeli administration as a “gang of thugs”. He was asked about remarks by the Israeli education minister, who had said Olmert should be ashamed of a previous interview, where he argued that what Israel was doing in Gaza was “close to a war crime”.
“This is nonsense, they are a group of thugs that are running the state of Israel these days and the head of the gang is Netanyahu – this is a gang of thugs,” Olmert said. “Of course they are criticising me, they are defaming me, I accept it, and it will not stop me from criticising and opposing these atrocious policies.”
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’s cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 53,762 people, including 16,500 children, have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Netanyahu echoed those statements, describing the shootings as the “terrible price of antisemitism” and “rampant incitement against the State of Israel”. “Blood libels against the Jewish state cost blood,” he said in his statement.
Amichai Chikli, Israel’s diaspora minister, also accused the leaders of the UK, France and Canada of “emboldening the forces of terror”. In a post on X, he said those who give “backing to this hatred – whether through appeasement, double standards, or silence,” must be held to account.
Chikli added: “French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have all, in different ways, emboldened the forces of terror through their failure to draw moral red lines. “This cowardice has a price – and that price is paid in Jewish blood.” Israeli diplomats have since distanced themselves from the comments by Chikli.
A French foreign ministry spokesperson has since rejected the claim that European nations bear blame for the attack as “completely outrageous and completely unjustified”. “France has condemned, France condemns and France will continue to condemn, always and unequivocally, any act of antisemitism,” the spokesman said.
In response to the shooting, Starmer said he “thoroughly condemns” the incident and that “antisemitism is an evil we must stamp out wherever it appears”. Macron also posted about the “antisemitic attack”, offering his condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims.
