°®Âþµº

The late Queen Elizabeth II believed all Israelis were "either terrorists or the sons of terrorists", Israel's former president, Reuven Rivlin, said during an event on Monday, garnering widespread reactions.

British Jewish News reported that Rivlin made the comments at a gala event in London, which was commemorating 100 years of Haifa's Technion Institute of Technology.

The report added that Rivlin said that as a result of Queen Elizabeth’s beliefs and views of the state, ties between her and Israel were strained.

"She refused to accept any Israeli official into [Buckingham] Palace, apart from international occasions" he said, adding that King Charles III on the other hand was always "so friendly".

During her time as monarch for 70 years, Queen Elizabeth never visited Israel despite paying official visits to many other countries.

According to several reports, the Queen was also reluctant to welcome Israeli officials into Buckingham Palace, apart from during international occasions or events.

In 1984, Queen Elizabeth visited Jordan, where she met with King Hussein I on a four-day trip to the country.

Prince William, the queen's grandson, is believed to be one of the only British royals who has visited Israel in an official capacity, during an Israeli independence event, which many Palestinians and activists condemned.

Online, the comments from Rivlin have triggered a wide and varied response from social media users, many of whom praised the late monarch for her apparent stance while others criticised her lack of opposition towards the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

"The late Queen Elizabeth was a wise lady in her long reign she travelled the world over but refused to visit Israel due to the terrorist attack on the King David Hotel in July 1946 which killed 91 people & injured 45. Many of them British officers Israel was founded on terrorism"Ìý

"My guess is that it has less to do with their treatment of the Palestinians and more to do with the early Zionist armed groups like Lehi and their campaigns against the Brits,"Ìý

"The queen was much smarter than I gave her credit for being," one person commented.

The revelation from Rivlin comes as Israel continues to wage a brutal war on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed 44,758 people since 7 October 2023 and wounded at least 106,134 others. The war has levelled entire neighbourhoods and plunged the Strip into a deep humanitarian crisis.