Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has referred to the United Kingdom as the "Islamic Republic of Britain," drawing sharp criticism from Jewish groups and British political figures.

Netanyahu made the remark during an appearance on the Israeli podcast "Melech Blitzer Haim," which aired on Thursday. He made the comment while objecting to British media coverage of Israel.

As an example, Netanyahu praised British writer Randolph Churchill for what he described as "positive" coverage of Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. He then added sarcastically: "Go find that in Britain today, which you could call the Islamic Republic of Britain," according to translated comments published by Israeli media.

Later in the same podcast, Netanyahu appeared to reference remarks made by US Vice President JD Vance in 2022, in which Vance suggested the UK could become the first nuclear-armed Islamist country.

"Someone said the first Islamic republic with nuclear weapons will be the Islamic Republic of Britain," Netanyahu said. "We are making sure there won't be another one here, in Iran," he added.

A British and Irish Jewish group was swift to condemn the comments. Rabbi Charley Baginsky and Rabbi Josh Lev, co-leads of the Movement for Progressive Judaism, described the language as hateful and divisive.

"At a time when antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred and social division are causing real fear across our country, language of this kind is dangerous and irresponsible," they said.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu does not speak for British Jews. His words do not represent us," they added.

Gavin Barwell, former Downing Street chief of staff to Prime Minister Theresa May, described Netanyahu's comments as "blatant Islamophobia."

"Let's hope everyone will now shed the pretence some still cling to that this man is any friend of Britain," Barwell wrote in a post on X.

Despite historically strong ties, relations between Israel and the UK have deteriorated since the Labour Party came to power in 2024. Under former Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the UK paused free trade negotiations with Israel and suspended some arms export licences.

The UK has also imposed sanctions on far-right Israeli cabinet members Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, joining France in that step. Last year, the UK joined allies including France and Canada in formally recognising a Palestinian state.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently apologised for Labour's initial response to Israel's actions in Gaza, saying the party had been too slow to call for a ceasefire.

"That is why we need to do more, which includes looking at further sanctions on those involved in the violence in Gaza but also looking at measures to ban trading goods with illegal settlements," Burnham said. "We've got to do more to put pressure on the Israeli government."

Rodwan Abouharb, associate professor in international relations at University College London, said Netanyahu's remark marks a "new low" in UK-Israel relations, but also "belies a considerable overlap in policy goals" between the two states regarding Iran.

Abouharb suggested Netanyahu's comments may have been driven by domestic considerations. "Netanyahu's comments may be more for domestic purposes, to shore up his fractured governing coalition," he said.