Israel minister calls for end of ‘UK occupation of Falklands’

He said they were ‘Argentine territory under occupation’

The comments by Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s minister for national security, were made just after it was revealed that Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is due to announce new sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Miliband is expected on Tuesday (September 8) to outline new trade restrictions on goods coming out of the illegal settlements in the West Bank, which is a Palestinian territory.

Amid the rumours of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s “reset” of relations, Israeli officials threatened to “act against Britain”.

The Israeli minister has now publicly called for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognise the Falklands as Argentinian.

The Israeli minister said the UK ‘steal money’ from the Argentine people

“It's time for the State of Israel to publicly recognise that the Malvinas Islands are Argentine territory under occupation, which the British violently steal from the Argentine people”, Ben-Gvir wrote on social media.

“The British are not content with merely occupying the territory; they also carry out oil drilling there and steal the money from the Argentine people”, the Israeli minister wrote.

“I call upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognise Argentina's sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and to impose sanctions on Great Britain as long as the occupation continues”, he continued.

The Falkland Islands remain the subject of a sovereignty dispute between Britain and Argentina.

A brief but bitter war over the territory was waged by the two countries in 1982.

After Argentine forces landed on the Falklands to stake a territorial claim, they were ejected by a British military task force.

The conflict, which lasted 74 days, caused the deaths of 255 British military personnel, 649 Argentine military personnel and three islanders.

Argentina's President recently addressed the nation over the Falklands

Javier Milei has recently announced sanctions on Falklands oil fields.

In his speech, which took place at 1am BST on Friday morning (9pm local time Thursday evening), Milei reiterated previous and unwavering claims to the Falkland Islands.

He opened his speech by claiming that the Falklands "are Argentinian… historically and legally".

"There can be no argument. They are part of the Argentine territory," he added.

This, of course, is news to nobody, as the Argentinians have been claiming the islands since their independence from Spain, although this is still predated by the first British settlement on the islands.

However, what feels different is the actual course of action being taken by Milei against the Falklands.

Trump suggested US wouldn’t back Britain over Falklands

US President Donald Trump has suggested he would not back the UK if Argentina threatened the Falkland Islands, because the UK was “not there to help me” in Iran.

Trump's comments were made ahead of Argentinian president and Trump ally Javier Milei making a national televised statement late on Thursday about the Falklands.

Speaking to GB News on Thursday, Trump was asked if he would  “come to the aid” of the UK over the islands.

He replied: “Well look, I was there when they had the first war.

“That was a long time ago, and I watched it so carefully, and you comported yourselves very well.

“You took it back pretty strongly, but it’s a long way away. That’s a big trip, it’s a long way.”

“So, your country’s not doing well. Don’t forget, you get a big percentage of your oil from the Strait of Hormuz, and you weren’t there to help me,” Trump continued.

“Your country was not there to help me. We didn’t need help, but I did ask Nato, and I asked your former leader, ‘why didn’t you send a couple of ships?’

“He said we don’t have any, and it was pretty sad, the whole thing.”

UK's response after Trump's and Milei's comments

Following Trump’s comments and Milei’s announcement about a televised statement, the UK government reiterated its “unwavering” commitment to the Falklands.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said that UK defence’s commitments to the Falklands remains “absolutely unshakable.”

In 2013, the people living on the Falklands were given the choice whether to remain an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom.

The outcome was 99.80% voting yes, with only three people voting no.