Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel gave the United Kingdom intelligence about an “Iranian-sponsored attack,” implied to be related to the recent Royal Air Force Fairford incident, only to be sanctioned shortly after.
Speaking to Fox News, Netanyahu was asked about the “recent scare in Britain,” referring to an incident in which five men were arrested on explosives charges outside a major U.K. air base, which hosts U.S. heavy bombers, recently used to bomb Iran. The Israeli prime minister responded with heavy criticism of London, implying Israel had warned the U.K. about the attack ahead of time.
“You talked about the thing in Britain. Do you want to hear how absurd things are there and how far the anti-Israeli propaganda has gone?” Netanyahu began.
“We gave the Brits the intel, that there was going to be an attack, and it’s an Iranian-sponsored attack, and pretty much the next day they slap sanctions on us,” the prime minister said.
“It’s wild, the caving in, the collapse before the Islamist-Marxist alliance is very dangerous for the future of the West,” he concluded.
Netanyahu did not explicitly clarify whether the attack Israel warned about was the incident on Sunday, the exact motive and details of which are unclear.
On Sunday, British police declared a “major incident” near RAF Fairford after five men across three vans were arrested on explosives charges. A bomb squad was deployed to the area, and a robot used for defusing bombs was seen at the scene.
While originally believed to be a planned attack on the base, confusion reigned on Monday after the five were released on bail. U.K. counterterrorism officials said the investigation was ongoing and that they were not ruling out any possibilities, including an attack from foreign-backed agents.
President Donald Trump, after initially praising U.K. police, took on a more critical tone on Monday after the release.
TRUMP HITS UK FOR RELEASING TERRORISM SUSPECTS ON BAIL: ‘I WOULDN’T HAVE DONE THAT’
“I’m surprised that they released them,” he said. “I wouldn’t have done that. Look, they’ve been very good. They worked with us very closely.
“We know everything about them,” Trump added about the terrorist suspects. “We would not have released them.”
