Senior Labour official, says Israeli embassy ‘whips up’ antisemitism claims

The reason was a recording of comments he had made in January at a meeting in Oxford with the American-Israeli author Tuvia Tenenbom.

By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ/JTA
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, waves to supporters in Hastings on January 17, days after losing a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May’s government over her Brexit deal (photo credit: PETER NICHOLLS/REUTERS)
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, waves to supporters in Hastings on January 17, days after losing a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May’s government over her Brexit deal
(photo credit: PETER NICHOLLS/REUTERS)
Britain’s Labour party suspended one of its top officials after he was recorded accusing the Israeli embassy of “whipping up” antisemitism claims against the movement’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
Peter Willsman, a member of the party’s National Executive Committee, was suspended Friday morning, the Jewish News of London reported.
The reason was a recording of comments he had made in January at a meeting in Oxford with the American-Israeli author Tuvia Tenenbom.
“The people that are in the Labour Party doing it are people who are linked. One of them works indirectly for the Israeli embassy,” Willsman said about campaigners within Labour working to address the party’s antisemitism problem. “So obviously, I wouldn’t want to be bothered to find out, but my guess is that they’re the ones that are whipping.”
Willsman also extended his claims of Israeli interference to the letter written by 68 rabbis last year, saying Labour has chosen to ignore the Jewish community.
“In the Guardian not long ago, we had 68 rabbis obviously organized by the Israeli embassy, 68 rabbis saying ‘antisemitism in the Labour Party is widespread and severe,’” he said.
Earlier this week, the United Kingdom’s foremost government watchdog on racism, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, officially launched an investigation into Labour’s antisemitism problem.
Jewish community leaders have said that Labour has developed an institutional antisemitism problem following the election in 2015 of Corbyn, a far-left politician, to lead the party. In many cases, harsh criticism of Israel takes the form of classic anti-Semitic tropes.