Israel has accused Britain’s Labour government of being “hell-bent” on destroying relations between the two countries despite Israeli intelligence warning MI5 of an imminent Iranian-backed terror plot ahead of the attack on RAF Fairford last week.
A senior Israeli official said the warning, first revealed earlier this week by Prime Minister Netanyahu, was specifically in reference to the suspected plot at the Gloucestershire airbase and came shortly before Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced plans on September 8 to ban imports from settlements in the West Bank.
“We warned our British counterparts of an imminent Iranian attack on RAF Fairford,” the official told The Telegraph. “That is what allies do, and yet the UK Government appears hell-bent on destroying a relationship that has saved countless British lives.”
The intervention follows remarks by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Britain imposed sanctions on Israel “pretty much the next day” after receiving the intelligence.
He told Fox News: “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?
“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.
“It’s wild, the caving in, the collapse before the Islamist-Marxist alliance is very dangerous for the future of the West.”
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has also condemned the sanctions as unfair and politically motivated, arguing that Britain was interfering in Israeli politics without helping the Palestinians.
The diplomatic row has intensified as British authorities investigate the events at Fairford, where three suspicious vans were found around 400 metres from the base. Five British nationals in their 20s were arrested, although all were subsequently bailed. Police have said no explosives were discovered, but petrol was recovered.
A 27-year-old dual Iranian-British national was later arrested in Westminster on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.
Iran has denied involvement, but Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said authorities had seen “strong indications” that Tehran played a part.
Likewise, Laurence Taylor, the head of UK counter-terror policing, said the force was “pretty confident” Iran was involved in the plot and that “without question” the country posed a threat to the UK.
“We know that in the last six months of last year, we saw a 50 per cent increase in the volume of investigations that we are picking up that are directly associated with a foreign state,” he said.
“Now, that isn’t just Iran; there is Russia in that caseload, China to an extent, and a handful of other countries. But the majority of the work that we do is Iran-focused or Russia-focused.”
He also said he could “completely understand why this can look like quite a confusing incident and why there had been so much speculation”.
Wes Streeting, the Defence Secretary, said the investigation was continuing and stressed the importance of Britain’s security relationship with the United States, whose forces use RAF Fairford.
Luke Akehurst, Labour MP for North Durham, said: “Israel’s provision of intelligence about the Iranian plot against RAF Fairford is a timely reminder of the importance of the UK and Israel’s bilateral relationship.
“The safety of British citizens is greatly enhanced by intelligence and security cooperation with Israel, and every effort should be made to ensure that we continue to work together against terrorist organisations and state threats like Iran.”
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