The British government has criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he referred to the United Kingdom as the “Islamic republic of Britain”, describing the comment as completely unacceptable.

A UK government spokesperson said the remarks had been raised with the Israeli government as tensions between London and Jerusalem continue to grow.

Netanyahu made the comments during an interview on an Israeli army radio podcast while discussing British support for Israel and the legacy of former prime minister Winston Churchill.

During the conversation, Netanyahu praised Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill’s son, for his positive reporting about Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.

“Try and find that now, in what is called the Islamic republic of Britain,” Netanyahu said.

The podcast host then suggested that the description could apply to Europe more broadly. Netanyahu agreed before repeating a claim that Britain could become the “first Islamic republic with nuclear weapons”.

He then linked the remark to Iran, saying Israel would ensure there was not a second nuclear-armed Islamic republic in the region.

Pakistan has been a nuclear-armed state since 1998.

Netanyahu’s comments have drawn criticism in Britain, where the description of the country as an Islamic republic has been viewed as inflammatory. Similar claims that Britain is becoming increasingly influenced by Islam have previously been promoted by politicians and activists on the political right.

The dispute comes as relations between Britain and Israel face increased strain over the war in Gaza and Britain’s approach to the conflict.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has previously criticised the scale of civilian suffering in Gaza and said the British government needed to take a clearer position on Israel’s military actions.

Before becoming prime minister, Burnham apologised for what he described as shortcomings in his Labour Party’s initial response to the Gaza war. He also condemned Hamas’s October 7 attacks and antisemitic incidents in Britain.

At the same time, he called for stronger criticism of the Israeli government over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“The unbearable suffering in Gaza is a scar on our collective conscience,” Burnham said in July.

He also said it was unacceptable that Palestinian civilians, including children, continued to be killed and argued that the British government should increase pressure on Israel.

Netanyahu’s latest comments add another point of tension to an already difficult relationship between the two countries. The British government has continued to support Israel’s security while increasingly highlighting the need to protect Palestinian civilians and address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The Israeli prime minister’s remarks have also renewed debate over political language surrounding Britain’s Muslim population and the country’s changing relationship with Israel.

The European Union has rejected renewed pressure from the United States to weaken its environmental and human rights rules for companies, insisting that its regulatory independence is not open to negotiation.

The dispute intensified on Friday after US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder called on Brussels to bring two major corporate sustainability laws into line with the EU-US trade agreement reached last year.

Puzder said the EU needed to act on American concerns about the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. The US government also warned that it could take further action if it considered the rules an unreasonable burden on American businesses operating in Europe.

A US government document accompanying Puzder’s comments criticised the laws for imposing extensive obligations on companies with international supply chains.

The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive requires large businesses to identify and address serious human rights and environmental problems connected with their supply chains. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requires companies to disclose information about their climate impact, emissions and measures being taken to reduce them.

European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta said Brussels remained in discussions with Washington on trade and regulatory matters. She described the talks as constructive but made clear that the EU would not accept demands that challenged its ability to set its own rules.

“We have been very clear and consistent on the fact that neither our rules framework nor our regulatory autonomy are up for negotiation,” Podesta said.

The EU has already reduced the reach of both directives following criticism from businesses over compliance costs. Implementation has been delayed and smaller companies have been excluded from some requirements.

Washington nevertheless argues that the changes do not go far enough. It says the regulations could put US companies at a disadvantage because of the costs involved in monitoring supply chains and meeting European reporting requirements.

The latest dispute follows separate criticism from Puzder of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, known as CBAM. He argued that the system effectively functions as a tariff despite being presented as part of European climate policy.

Trade tensions have also grown over allegations that Chinese goods are being routed through other countries to avoid US tariffs. A White House report published Thursday identified the EU, Mexico, Canada and Japan among trading partners facing risks related to illegal transshipment.

The United States said it planned to use artificial intelligence and other tools to improve detection of such practices.

The European Commission said it shared Washington’s objective of combating customs fraud and was examining the potential consequences of the US report.

Podesta noted that the report described the EU’s transshipment risk as being connected to broad and legitimate trade flows. The latest exchanges underline growing differences between Washington and Brussels over trade, climate policy and the regulation of businesses operating across borders.

The World Health Organization has warned that an Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo is spreading so rapidly that it could surpass the devastating West African epidemic of 2014 to 2016, which killed more than 11,000 people.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that the current outbreak had already killed more than 2,000 people among over 4,300 reported cases. He warned that the outbreak is advancing faster than health authorities can contain it.

“At its current pace, it’s on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016,” Tedros told reporters.

The West African epidemic, which affected countries including Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, recorded at least 28,000 cases and took about eight months to reach 1,000 deaths. The speed of the current outbreak has raised serious concerns among health officials and international agencies.

The Congo outbreak was officially declared on May 15, but genetic sequencing later showed that the virus had been circulating since February. This earlier start has complicated efforts to trace infections and establish effective control measures.

The outbreak is concentrated in eastern Congo, where conflict, poor infrastructure and limited healthcare capacity have made the response more difficult. The affected region lies close to the borders with South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda.

Many new cases and deaths are being recorded in communities that are difficult for health workers to reach. Medical facilities in some areas lack equipment and resources, while some health workers have reportedly stopped working because of unpaid wages.

Misinformation has also created obstacles. Health officials say some communities remain suspicious of outsiders and are reluctant to visit clinics, making it harder to identify cases and prevent further transmission.

“The outbreak had a big head start, still way ahead of us, and we’re playing catch-up,” Tedros said.

Dr Abdirahman Mahamud, WHO director for health emergency alert and response operations, said the agency expects the outbreak to reach its peak within six months under a moderate scenario. He warned that the outbreak could continue for nine to 12 months under a more severe scenario.

The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare Ebola strain for which no approved vaccine or treatment is currently available. Clinical trials of two potential treatments began last month in Ituri, the province reporting the highest number of cases.