Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel warned British authorities about a potential Iranian-sponsored attack before five men were arrested near RAF Fairford, the U.S.-used British air base at the center of an ongoing counterterrorism investigation.
“We gave the Brits the intel that there was going to be an attack, and it’s an Iranian-sponsored attack,” Netanyahu told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
His comments come after British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were “strong indications” that Iran played a part in the incident near RAF Fairford.
“There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford,” Burnham said, while emphasizing that the case remains an “ongoing, complex, and serious police investigation.”
“We will say more in due course, but we can confirm our belief that we believe Iran to have played a part,” he added.
Iran has denied involvement. Iran’s embassy in London said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” speculation that Tehran was connected to the incident.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also said in July that RAF Fairford was a legitimate target, according to Reuters.
RAF Fairford has been used by U.S. forces and American long-range bombers during military operations in the Middle East, including operations connected to the conflict with Iran.
While Netanyahu did not provide details about what intelligence Israel shared with the United Kingdom, he pointed to Britain’s decision to impose sanctions on Israel shortly afterward.
“Pretty much the next day, they slapped sanctions on us,” Netanyahu said. “It’s wild. The caving in, the collapse before the Islamist marxist alliance is very dangerous for the future of the West. I think many in America recognize it. President Trump recognizes it. Israel recognizes it.”
The British government announced the sanctions alongside France and Canada in September, saying the measures were aimed at Israeli settlements and settlement expansion in Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the move marked the “beginning of a new approach” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding that “the British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists.”
The British measures will prohibit the import of goods from Israeli settlements and impose sanctions on companies and individuals accused of providing services supporting settlement expansion. Britain also announced plans to prohibit advertising for illegal West Bank settlements in the country.
During his U.N. address last week, Netanyahu defended Israeli settlers, arguing that the focus on settler violence centers on a handful of juvenile delinquents.
“What they cover is a handful of young juvenile delinquents, about 150 in number, who go, who throw stones, who chop down olive trees, occasionally they do — they fire up, they lit some fires,” Netanyahu said. “I can’t stand that. I won’t stand for vigilantism. We’re a country of law.”
He called the focus on settler violence a “distortion” and an “obsession.”
“I mean leaders of countries seriously talk about that and they say it with such importance: ‘We can’t stand settler violence.’ You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Israel responded to the sanctions by ordering the British consulate in East Jerusalem to close within 30 days.
The men, all British nationals in their 20s from London, were arrested Sunday after police received a report of three suspicious vehicles near the base. They were initially arrested under the Explosives Act and later on suspicion of preparing to carry out a terrorist act under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act.
The five men were released on police bail Monday following extensive interviews and inquiries, although they remain under investigation and are subject to strict conditions on their movements and contact with others.
President Donald Trump questioned the decision to release the suspects.
“I will tell you, I would have said, ‘don’t let them have bail.’ I’m surprised that they released them. I wouldn’t have done that,” Trump said Monday.
Burnham defended the decision, saying the men remain under strict bail conditions.
“I think people need to understand that when it says released — that isn’t as people might think. It’s obviously with the strictest possible bail conditions,” Burnham said. “The authorities have this under the strongest grip and closest control, and I can assure you of that.”
The incident was first brought to authorities’ attention after a local farmer encountered three white vans blocking a country road near RAF Fairford in the early hours of Sunday.
The farmer was driving home from a party when she came across the suspicious vehicles.
She described seeing “a group of Middle Eastern-looking young guys” running through the trees and fields, with some wearing masks or balaclavas. She said some of the men ran into fields while others appeared to head toward the air base.
“We realized this was something pretty serious,” she said.
The vehicles were subjected to extensive examination by military and forensic personnel. Police later said no viable explosive devices were found, although petrol was recovered from one of the vehicles.
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