Sir Rod Stewart has accused Benjamin Netanyahu of “doing to the Palestinians… exactly what happened to the Jews”.

The pop star, who performed in Tel Aviv in 2017 in defiance of calls for a boycott of Israel, claimed the Israeli prime minister was attempting to annihilate the Palestinian people.

He added he could never be friends again with Donald Trump, his Florida neighbour, while the US president sells arms to Israel.

In an interview with Radio Times, Sir Rod, 80, said: “Someone’s gotta do something.

“What Netanyahu is doing to the Palestinians is exactly what happened to the Jews. It’s annihilation, and that’s all he wants to do – get rid of them all. I don’t know how they sleep at night.”

Of Trump, he said: “I’m not a great fan of Trump. I knew him very, very well. I used to go to his house. I live literally half a mile away. We’re both on the beach. I used to go to his Christmas parties.

“He’s always been a bit of a man’s man. I liked him for that. But he didn’t, as far as I’m concerned, treat women very well.

“But since he became president, he became another guy. Somebody I didn’t know.”