Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a scathing attack on Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, accusing them of standing “on the wrong side of justice, humanity, and history” following the fatal shooting of two Israeli diplomats in Washington DC.
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, a young Israeli diplomatic couple, were gunned down at close range outside the Capital Jewish Museum.
The attacker, who entered the building afterwards, reportedly shouting “Free Palestine,” was subdued by security personnel and arrested.
In a strongly worded social media video, Netanyahu claimed the UK, French, and Canadian leaders were “emboldening Hamas to fight forever” by pledging to recognise a Palestinian state.
The joint declaration by London, Paris, and Ottawa described the move as a step toward achieving a two-state solution in the region.
“Hamas thanked Prime Minister Starmer, President Macron and Prime Minister Carney for calling on Israel to halt its war in Gaza,” Netanyahu said. “When mass murderers, rapists, baby killers, and kidnappers thank you, you are not standing with justice or humanity – you are standing with terror.”
Netanyahu further accused the trio of wanting Israel to accept the possibility of a repeat of the 7 October 2023 Hamas massacre. “Hamas wants to wipe out the Jewish people. It is beyond me how this truth escapes the leaders of Britain, France and Canada,” he said.
Sir Keir condemned the shooting in DC, expressing solidarity with the victims’ families and the Jewish community. “Antisemitism is an evil we must eradicate wherever it appears,” the Labour leader said in a statement.
Israeli officials, meanwhile, have pushed back against growing international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Netanyahu dismissed accusations that Israel is starving Palestinian children as “a lie.”
Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister for the diaspora and combating antisemitism, echoed Netanyahu’s sentiments, placing partial blame for the attack on Western leaders’ stance towards the conflict.
“Macron, Starmer, and Carney have emboldened the forces of terror by failing to uphold clear moral lines. This cowardice has consequences — and those consequences are paid in Jewish blood,” Chikli posted on X.
The diplomatic row highlights deepening divisions between Israel and its traditional allies over the path to peace in the Middle East.
