Israeli PM's Son Sparks Row with UK Right-Wing over Falklands Support

Comments by Yair Netanyahu, son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, backing Argentina's claim to the British-controlled Falkland Islands have sparked an unexpected dispute with the UK's right-wing — traditionally one of Britain's most steadfast pro-Israel constituencies.

Yair Netanyahu waded into the long-running territorial dispute over the South Atlantic archipelago last week, posting on X in Spanish: “The Falkland Islands belong to Argentina.”

Britain and Argentina went to war over the islands in 1982 and the sovereignty dispute continues to this day.

In subsequent posts, he argued Israel should side with Argentina because its government under far-right President Javier Milei is friendlier to Israel.

He accused the UK of “hypocrisy and hostility towards Israel for recognising 'Palestine'”, as well as continuing “anti-Semitism” and “blood libel”.

UK's Restore Britain Party Clashes with Yair Netanyahu

The remarks came days before US President Donald Trump, also a close ally of Milei, said the US was reviewing its stance on the Falkland Islands.

Although Yair Netanyahu's comments appeared aimed at the UK's Labour government, they also riled right-wing British politicians who typically back Israel.

Rupert Lowe, leader of the hard-right Restore Britain party, fired back at him on X, saying the Falklands would “remain” British and a UK government led by his party would “go to war if necessary to ensure that”.

“You have enough problems to focus on in Israel,” Lowe retorted, while calling on the Israeli government to clarify its position on the Falklands.

According to YouGov, only 3 percent of those polled would vote for Restore if a general election were held tomorrow.

Sir Conor Burns, a former UK Conservative Party lawmaker, called Yair Netanyahu's remarks “stupid” and warned they would “damage Israel's cause among the UK's right-wing”.

Tommy Robinson, a British far-right activist who is a vocal Israel supporter, shared an X post calling British sovereignty over the Falklands a “plain fact”, without mentioning the Israeli PM's son.

Angering Israel's Defenders

Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in security studies at King's College London, said the comments were the latest example of how he causes “embarrassment for Israel's self-proclaimed friends in Europe”.

“Yair Netanyahu has angered the constituency in the UK that is most inclined to defend Israel,” Geist Pinfold told Al Jazeera.

Despite not being an Israeli government official, Geist Pinfold suggested he “is alleged to possess more practical power behind the scenes thanks to Benjamin Netanyahu's increasingly authoritarian leadership style”.

James Vaughan, a lecturer in international history at Aberystwyth University, said the comments could turn off some in the UK right-wing, although the movement is not a monolith.

While Britain's mainstream right-wing movements generally support Israel, the UK's far-right elements have historically been “the anti-Israeli force in British politics”, Vaughan told Al Jazeera, noting signs that Restore Britain is “reverting to an older anti-Semitic tradition”.

Last year, Lowe of Restore Britain said of a video camera filming him: “In the olden days, they'd have called it a Jewish camera, but that would not be politically correct. Because it's too small.” He has also called for banning kosher — as well as halal — meat. He has denied allegations of anti-Semitism.

Israeli Officials Silent

No Israeli government official has publicly backed Yair Netanyahu's stance on the Falklands.

However, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar previously cited the islands when defending Israel's illegal settlement policy in the occupied West Bank.

During a UN Security Council debate in February, Saar said Israeli settlements in the West Bank are “in the cradle of our civilization”, comparing them to the Falkland Islands.

“It's our land; it's not 13,000km away from our country like the Falkland Islands,” Saar told then-UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. “The Argentines call them the Malvinas – a dispute you have not resolved with Argentina to this day.”

Vaughan pointed out that the Falklands have long been a “thorny issue in UK-Israel relations”, including in the early 1980s, due to Israel's arms sales to Argentina.

“That the present Israeli government is once again 'playing the Falklands card' says little in itself and perhaps tells us more about the current state of the cosy relationship between Israel and Argentina than anything else,” Vaughan told Al Jazeera.

Israeli officials have invoked other territorial issues when responding to criticism of Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land.

On July 31, when Spain faced an influx of people into its Ceuta territory across the Moroccan border, Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, taunted Spain over its control of that land in Africa.

“Perhaps before continuing to lecture us, it is time for this country to explain to the world why it still maintains colonial territories in Africa,” Danon wrote in an X post.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has noted Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and Madrid has imposed sweeping measures on Israel, including a comprehensive arms embargo.

Like the UK and other European nations, Spain also recognises the state of Palestine.

'Comprehensive reset'

Despite traditionally strong ties, there are signs of strain between Israel and the UK under Labour, which came to power in 2024.

Under former Labour PM Keir Starmer, the UK paused free trade negotiations with Israel and suspended some arms export licenses. The UK has also imposed sanctions on Israel's far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Britain's new leader, Andy Burnham, is currently considering further measures related to Israel's illegal settlements.

Israeli officials have mocked the UK as ties deteriorated. PM Netanyahu recently called Britain the “British Islamic Republic”.

Vaughan said the re-emergence of the Falklands issue is “a sign of the underlying stresses in UK-Israel relations, which clearly stem from more fundamental disagreements over Gaza, the West Bank, and the broader Middle East conflicts”.