Netanyahu's criticism of Starmer, Macron and Carney called 'absurd and slanderous'

Benjamin Netanyahu was accused of slander and pursuing a war without end yesterday after he claimed the leaders of France, Canada and the UK were stoking antisemitism and siding with Hamas by demanding he end the two-month blockade of food and aid into Gaza.

- Patrick Wintour

In what has become an extraordinary standoff with some of Israel's closest allies, Netanyahu appeared to deliberately raise the stakes on Thursday night by accusing his western critics of abandoning Israel in a war for its existence.

Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, also sought to link the killing of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington to the recent criticism from European leaders.

Netanyahu's language was seen by his own government as a warranted riposte to a joint statement issued on Monday by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, and the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, calling on Israel to stop its offensive in Gaza, which has already claimed 3,000 lives since it restarted in March.

In a post on X on Thursday, the Israeli prime minister said Hamas wanted to "destroy the Jewish state" and "annihilate the Jewish people".