ISRAEL’s president last night accused Britain of “sitting on the fence” as his nation fights for its life against Iran.
Embattled Isaac Herzog said it was Sir Keir Starmer’s government’s moral duty to support his strife-torn country’s war on terror.
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And he told The Sun that Iran’s missiles of mass destruction could one day be trained on the UK.
In an exclusive interview at the presidential palace in Jerusalem, he said: “There are things Britain cannot turn a blind eye to. It’s obvious.
“And I think the British leadership should not only look at demonstrations or comments. We have to show them clear moral clarity.
“We are fighting the war that will protect Britain in the foreseeable future.”
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Mr Herzog, a moderate political figure on the left of Israeli politics, added: “You ask yourself, why would Iran have missiles reaching London?
“Why? If London is not an enemy, then why? That is the question that needs to be asked.”
He spoke out as Donald Trump, who has moved battleships and aircraft towards the Middle East warzone, last night appeared to give Iran a fortnight to agree to axe its nuclear programme.
The Israel-backing US President, who yesterday signed off on a plan believed to involve ordering B-2 stealth bombers to wipe out Iran’s surviving nuclear plant, said: “I will make my decision whether or not to ‘go’ within the next two weeks.”
Mr Trump, who has demanded Iran’s immediate “unconditional surrender” said he based his decision on the fact there was a “substantial chance of negotiations” with Iran in the near future.
President Herzog, 64, hit out as Keir Starmer’s Labour government continued to fight shy of commitments to back ally Israel’s war with the rogue terror state.
RAF Typhoon jets have been moved to a UK base in Cyprus but the PM and his Foreign Secretary David Lammy have sought to focus squarely on pleas for de-escalation.
Sir Keir yesterday again urged all parties to back off as Britain prepared to enter crisis talks in Geneva with Iran.
He said: “The continuation of the current situation is in no-one’s interest. We want to see cool heads and a return to diplomacy because that is the best route forward.”
The UK has sanctioned two far-Right Israeli ministers over “incitements of violence against Palestinian communities” in the occupied West Bank.
Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich will be banned from entering the UK and will have any assets in the UK frozen.
Mr Herzog spoke of his respect for British values as he poured out his frustration yesterday.
The nation’s figurehead, a political opponent of strongman PM Benjamin Netanyahu, let rip during a 20-minute defence of Israel’s “existential” war with Iran.
And he spoke of his enduring pride in his father, late Israeli president Chaim Herzog, who was an officer in the British Army and battled the Nazis in World War II.
He said: “My father, you know, he was really a war hero in World War Two.
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“He was very proud of the fact that he served in the British Army. He saw the worst of atrocities when he fought the Nazis and liberated the concentration camps. And we always believed, and I always believed, in the uniqueness of the British parliamentary system.”
Mr Herzog went on to warn Britain that Iran must be stopped, and that Israel was at a now or never moment when there had never been a better time to end the terror from Iran and its proxies such as Hezbollah and the Houthis.
He told The Sun: “Ask yourself, why would a small tribe of 50,000 Yemenite Houthis receive ballistic missiles and cruise missiles? Ballistic missiles is something only empires have. It’s all planned and arranged by Iran. It’s a war machine planned against us.
“But, truly, the next ones in line are the Europeans and the ‘infidels’ as they call them.
“So let’s not delude ourselves and let’s all join together in identifying the national security risks of all these nations who have to stand up to Iran and say, ‘No more’.
“Enough with your terror cells, enough with your jihadist cells, enough with your proxies and enough with your nuclear programme.
‘We are defending Europe’
“It’s now or never. Iran went on procrastinating for decades and decades and there were all sorts of windows of opportunity.
“Each time they told us, ‘OK, let’s give it a chance . . . let’s have an agreement. Let them do X or Y’.
“But underneath, they had covert operations of lying. Their covert operation threatens Middle East stability and world stability. That’s what people don’t get.
“They love to criticise Israel automatically. But we are defending the West. We are defending Europe.”
Mr Herzog saluted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for his recent show of support as he urged Sir Keir Starmer to follow suit. And he called on the people of Iran to rise up against terror stoking Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini in his nation’s strongest call yet for regime change.
He told The Sun: “The chancellor of Germany said it beautifully.
“He said Israel is doing the dirty work for us. It’s true.
“We are here at the frontier of a clash of civilisational values vis-à-vis jihadists. That’s what we are dealing with.
The world, for 80 years, has made clear that nuclear capabilities are the most dangerous thing if they are linked with an extreme, cruel, jihadist ideology.
Isaac Herzog
“I trust President Trump. I think he sees it lucidly. I don’t want to go into bombastic declarations but I think that he sees things correctly and my message to the people of Iran is very clear, ‘We do not seek war but this war is your opportunity to uprise and bring change in your country. Totally uprise and change direction’.
“It’s not one of our main plans or aims, but it is a major, major side-effect of our campaign. Our prime minister and our executive branch, they’re taking care of it.”
Referring to Ali Khameini, he said: “It is clear that the leader of this war machine of terror, of atrocities, he himself is in charge of everything.
“He’s taking billions of dollars off his own people from their food to spend on this terrible machine of cruelty. The world has to stand up to him once and for all.”
Mr Herzog said he trusted Donald Trump to end Iran’s reign of terror across the Middle East but said Israel’s military had the power and the guile to win the war solo.
Asked if his military could go it alone, he told The Sun: “Israel can. It has many capabilities. We haven’t shown everything yet.
“And we are very cautious in commenting about President Trump’s considerations or decision-making process. We respect him immensely and we leave it up to him to take the historic decision.
“What we’re doing is strictly in line with national security interests of all these major countries — all the G7 countries.
“We are showing our ingenuity and capabilities. We have a lot in stock. I don’t want to brag about it.
“I met pilots yesterday who flew 2,300 kilometres and destroyed armaments that were aimed at us.
“And now they hit the Arak nuclear plantation and other places. That’s a huge achievement.
“The world, for 80 years, has made clear that nuclear capabilities are the most dangerous thing if they are linked with an extreme, cruel, jihadist ideology.”
The president said he hoped for an historic change, possibly within the next seven days, as Israel’s vast military operation continued.
He said: “I sincerely hope that there will be a different balance that will block Iran, make clear that they cannot go on with that nasty, terrible game of theirs all over the world and in the region.
“They cannot threaten Israel’s existence and move to the bomb — it’s clear — and that is our aim.”