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Israeli minister brands Shabana Mahmood an ‘Islamist’ over refugee plans
Amichai Chikli says Britain risks being dragged into an ‘abyss’ after Home Secretary unveils new routes for refugees
Israel’s minister responsible for combating antisemitism has branded Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood an “Islamist” in an attack on Britain’s new refugee plans.
Amichai Chikli, Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, made the comments after Mahmood announced new routes allowing charities, community groups and universities to sponsor refugees coming to Britain.
He also took aim at New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, writing on X: “When people speak of the political takeover of a country by Islamism, they imagine bearded sheikhs in robes.
“In reality, political Islam often looks exactly like this: Oxford English, fashionable clothes and progressive rhetoric. That is true of the Islamist Mayor Mamdani, and it is equally true of the Islamist Shabana Mahmood.
“I sincerely hope, for the sake of the British people, that the lunatics BDS activists who have taken over their country do not drag Britain into an abyss from which there is no way back.”
Shadow Attorney General Lord Wolfson has condemned the remarks, saying that while he disagrees with Mahmood on “plenty”, describing her as an Islamist was “ridiculous”.
He wrote on X: “Politics is better when we attack bad arguments, not smear people with labels and slogans.”
Chikli was responding to footage of Mahmood announcing that charities and non-profit organisations will be able to apply from October to sponsor refugees under a new community sponsorship route.
The intervention comes after the government also reopened the UK Resettlement Scheme, with around a quarter of referrals expected to be Afghan women and girls and Palestinian refugees.
The first arrivals under the reopened scheme are expected before the end of this year, while refugees sponsored through the new community and student routes are due to begin arriving in autumn 2027.
The government says the schemes will initially bring hundreds of people to Britain, with numbers expected eventually to rise into the low thousands as illegal migration falls. Annual numbers will be capped.
Those arriving will undergo identity, security and criminal checks and will be placed on a five-year route to permanent settlement.
Announcing the plans at Labour conference, Mahmood said: “We will take vulnerable refugees from across the world, and give them the chance of a new and better life here in Britain, with the first arrivals beginning this year.
“I am proud to say that around a quarter will be Afghan women and girls, fleeing persecution under the Taliban, and Palestinians who have fled the horrors of Gaza.”
The Jewish Leadership Council has already sought assurances from Mahmood over the plans, including how security checks will operate and whether measures will be taken to address extremism and antisemitism among new arrivals.
Jewish News has approached the Home Office and Labour Friends of Israel for comment on Chikli’s remarks.
Last year the Israeli Minister was widely condemned after inviting English far-right activist Tommy Robinson to Israel, describing him as a “British patriot” and a “courageous leader on the front line against radical Islam.”
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