Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of handing Iran free rein in Britain in a scathing attack by the Israeli President.
In his takedown of the British Prime Minister, Isaac Herzog claimed Sir Keir is allowing the Iranian regime to conduct operations with impunity on British soil.
In an interview conducted earlier this week with StandWithUs executive director Michael Dickinson, Mr Herzog questioned why Britain had experienced between 10 and 20 incidents connected to Iranian terrorism during the previous year alone.
"How come in Britain, the Prime Minister of Britain says there were about 10 or 20 events only last year linked to Iranian terror? What is this?" Mr Herzog demanded.
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The Israeli leader described Tehran as a rogue state whose terrorists are permitted to act without restraint.
"They're allowed to do what they want. They are a rogue state. They're an empire of evil and they're an evil regime and it must be crushed," he said.
Mr Herzog's remarks came just four days after a firebombing incident in which Jewish ambulances belonging to the Jewish Community Ambulance service were destroyed.
Counter-terrorism officers detained two British nationals, both in their forties, in connection with the attack.
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of handing Iran free rein in Britain
|PA
The pair have since been granted bail whilst investigations continue.
The incident forms part of a broader pattern of Iranian-linked security concerns on British territory.
Earlier this month, on March 6, authorities apprehended four individuals accused of surveilling Jewish locations at Tehran's behest.
Last year, MI5's director general revealed that security services thwarted 20 potentially deadly Iran-backed conspiracies aimed at British citizens and residents since 2022.
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The Israeli president emphasised Tehran channels billions into maintaining terrorist networks globally, operating both directly and through intermediaries.
Mr Herzog issued a stark warning to European nations, urging them to abandon what he characterised as naivety regarding Iranian military capabilities and intentions.
He pointed to Tehran's deployment of ballistic missiles towards the joint UK-US facility at Diego Garcia, located approximately 2,500 miles from Iranian territory, as evidence of the regime's expanding reach.
"Once the Iranians launched a 4,000-kilometre missile to Diego Garcia," Mr Herzog cautioned.
"That's 2,500 miles. That definitely covers all of Europe, including England."
Isaac Herzog told Sir Keir to 'stop being so naive'
|REUTERS
Iran had previously maintained its weapons could only reach targets up to 1,240 miles away, making the Diego Garcia strike a significant demonstration of enhanced range.
The Israeli president urged European allies to recognise themselves as potential targets of Iranian military aggression.
"What are you so naïve about? Read their scriptures. Read their ideology and understand you are next," he warned.
Mr Herzog also addressed the surge in antisemitic incidents affecting Britain and other nations since the October 7 attack on Israel, with the Community Security Trust recording 3,700 cases of anti-Jewish hatred in 2025 alone.
The Israeli president described an emotional exchange with Hatzola's leadership, which occurred whilst he was positioned in Kiryat Shemona near Lebanon's border.
"I spoke to Hatzola leadership yesterday. It was a very moving conversation because I called them from Kiryat Shemona on the border with Lebanon and their missiles from Lebanon and I told them the fate of all Jews is unanimous," he said.
"We are there together. We're in this battle together."
Since the beginning of the conflict, the Prime Minister has said his position on the war is clear.
Although the Prime Minister initially withheld permission for American forces to conduct strikes from British installations, he subsequently granted authorisation for "defensive" operations targeting Iranian missile installations.
Relations between Britain, America and Israel have deteriorated following Sir Keir's refusal to back the original strikes against Iran.
In a recent televised press conference in the White House, the US President told Sir Keir the UK’s aircraft carriers were "toys compared to what we have".
He went on to tell the Prime Minister "not to bother" sending aircraft carriers to the region as "we don’t need it".