Netanyahu Spokesman Blasts Piers Morgan Over Jewish Critics and UK Sanctions
Netanyahu's spokesman Doron Spielman clashed with Piers Morgan, accusing him of platforming Jewish critics to misrepresent Israel, while condemning UK Labour's West Bank sanctions.
Doron Spielman, the foreign media spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, harshly criticized British broadcaster Piers Morgan during an interview on Wednesday, accusing him of using Jewish critics of the government to falsely portray them as representative of mainstream Jewish sentiment against Israeli policies.
The fiery exchange erupted after Morgan noted that criticism of Israel's policies is also voiced by Jewish figures, including British politicians. Spielman quickly pushed back, stating: "If there's anyone that's taken self-hating Jews and put them against Israel — it's you!"
The Clash Over Media Framing
Spielman accused Morgan of consistently employing a specific strategy in his interviews. "That has been your strategy all along, Piers. You bring on self-hating Jews, including a former prime minister who went to jail, and every self-hating Jew you can find in the book. And then you claim that Israel's policy is dictated by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, trying to paint us as a population hijacked by them, instead of understanding what is truly happening here," Spielman charged.
While Spielman did not explicitly name Ehud Olmert, his reference to a "former prime minister who went to jail" was widely understood as a jab at Olmert, who has frequently appeared in international media as a sharp critic of the current administration. Spielman further emphasized his identity, telling Morgan: "You know something? I'm called a Jew, Piers, not because of Ben-Gvir, not because of Smotrich, and not because of anyone else. I'm called a Jew because my ancestors came from Judea."
"At a moment when the people of Israel are fighting against evil in the world — Iran, whose ballistic missiles can now reach London, Hamas, which is a terrorist organization, Hezbollah, which is a terrorist organization — after October 7, when we are fighting for our lives, the Labour Party chooses to sanction Jews living in Judea because of the actions of a few hundred people."
Criticism of the British Labour Government
Shifting his focus to London's political landscape, Spielman launched a scathing attack on the British Labour government and its decision to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank. He argued that targeting Israeli citizens was an egregious misallocation of diplomatic energy at a time when Israel is locked in a multi-front war against Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah following the devastating October 7 attacks.
Spielman warned that such policies risk severely damaging the long-standing bilateral relationship between London and Jerusalem. He also highlighted the vital, reciprocal nature of intelligence sharing, noting that chiefs of British intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 have previously acknowledged that Israeli intelligence has saved the lives of numerous British citizens.
