CFI’s Parliamentary Chairman, Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Pickles MP, has condemned Jeremy Corbyn’s likening of Israel with the so-called Islamic State at the launch of the Labour Party’s report into anti-Semitism.
Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Pickles MP said: “Jeremy Corbyn just does not get it. Even when he is trying to be helpful his mindset returns to the old hatred. His ill-considered comparison between Israel and ISIS is quite astonishing. I suggest the Labour leader reads his own report into anti-Semitism”.
During his speech, Mr Corbyn said Jews were “no more responsible” for Israel’s actions than Muslims were for “those various self-styled Islamic states”.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has condemned the remark as “offensive” and that rather than rebuilding trust with the Jewish community, the Labour leader caused “greater concern”.
Political leaders in Israel have condemned Mr Corbyn for his remark. Israel’s Labor leader Isaac Herzog, whose party has official ties with the Labour Party said: “the comparison is shocking, unacceptable and a betrayal of the values that the Labor movement represents around the world. He added: “Corbyn represents a position of consistent hatred of Israel”.
Yair Lapid, who leads the centrist Yesh Atid party, urged Israel’s Labor Party to break all ties with the UK Labour Party in the wake of the remarks: “It is unacceptable that on such a difficult day for the State of Israel, when an innocent young girl was murdered in a terror attack by an evil terrorist just because she was a Jew, the leader of the opposition in the UK compares Israel and ISIS, made worse by being at the launch of a report on anti-Semitism in his own party”.
Mr Lapid continued: “It is an infuriating comparison which is evidence of his ignorance. It is pure anti-Semitism. The State of Israel is governed by democratic values, morality and justice and fights every day against terror organisations which are sworn to the murder of innocents. I call upon the Labor Party in Israel to cut all ties with their counterpart in the UK until the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, is replaced”.
Israel’s former Justice Minister, Tzipi Livni, said on Twitter: “Corbyn’s words imply a serious lack of moral judgement. Just as all Muslims are not to blame for ISIS, not all Brits are to blame for Corbyn”.
