As Britain is poised to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Netanyahu to recognize Argentina's sovereignty over the Falkland Islands – echoing a call by Netanyahu's son that angered the British right.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir late on Monday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognize Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the British ambassador to be expelled from Israel, in response to the United Kingdom's expected ban on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
On Monday, Haaretz reported that the British government is also expected to expand its sanctions regime to allow measures against companies involved not only in settler violence but also in the expansion of Israeli settlements. The move is intended to warn companies considering bidding on a construction tender in the E1 area, an area of the West Bank where Israeli plans could divide Palestinian territory.
The British ban, expected to be announced on Tuesday, will mark the first time that Britain accepts a 2024 International Court of Justice ruling that Israel's occupation of the West Bank is unlawful.
Writing on social media in a Spanish-language post that mentioned Netanyahu and Argentina's President Javier Milei, Ben-Gvir claimed: "It's time for Israel to publicly recognize that the Malvinas Islands are Argentine territory under occupation, which the British violently steal from the Argentine people," using the Argentinian name for the South Atlantic archipelago.
"The British are not content with merely occupying the territory, as they also carry out oil drilling there and steal the money from the Argentine people," he added.
Ben-Gvir called on Netanyahu "to recognize Argentina's sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and to impose sanctions on Great Britain as long as the occupation continues."
Last week, Netanyahu's son Yair launched a frantic campaign on X urging Israel to recognize Argentina's sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, angering figures on the British right who called on his father to clearly state his government's position on the islands' sovereignty.
Last month, amid calls by Netanyahu supporters for Argentina to reclaim the archipelago, the British Embassy in Israel told Haaretz: "The Falkland Islands are British. Sovereignty lies with the United Kingdom and self-determination lies with the islanders,' adding that in a 2013 referendum, 99.8 percent of Falkland Islanders 'voted in favor of remaining a U.K. overseas territory."
The British Overseas Territory lies roughly 500 kilometers east of Argentina. In 1982, Argentina invaded the islands, igniting a 74-day war that claimed the lives of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers and three civilians.
Commenting on the expected ban, Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also slammed the reported British decision, calling on the government to expel the U.K.'s ambassador to Israel.
"We will not be the doormat of an antisemitic government in a country that has been conquered by radical Islam and is trying to save itself from economic and social decline by attacking Jews and the State of Israel," Smotrich wrote.
"The British Mandate in the Land of Israel is over," he said, referring to British control over Palestine up to 1948.
The British Foreign Office expects the move to draw a sharp response from Israel and fears that its timing, roughly six weeks before Israel's election, could be exploited by the government. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said last week that Israel would take countermeasures in response to possible British actions but declined to elaborate.
The Financial Times reported that Israel is considering expelling British representatives from an international command center in Kiryat Gat overseeing the cease-fire in Gaza. Such a move could create difficulties for Israel, as Britain has the center's third-largest delegation, after the United States and Israel, and the U.S. commander's deputy is also British.
In recent weeks, Jewish figures and organizations in Britain have protested the government's measures against the settlements, although some members of the Jewish community have also voiced support for the move.