Yogev: Arab MKs’ Letter ‘Declares Open Season on British Jews’

MK Moti Yogev (Jewish Home) on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Knesset Ethics Committee against Arab MKs who wrote of their support for British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in a letter to the British Guardian. In his complaint, Yogev pointed out that Corbyn had been criticized for anti-Semitism even within his own party – and that by supporting Corbyn, the Arab MKs “have declared open season on British Jews.”

The support shown for Corbyn indicates that the Arab MKs are “whitewashing Corbyn’s anti-Semitism. It is about time that the Knesset Ethics Committee sets a red line for their behavior.” In recent months, Yogev said, Corbyn has participated in events celebrating the actions of terrorists who killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic games. On another occasion, he spoke to terrorists who were released from Israeli prisons in the Gilad Shalit deal, terming them “my brothers.” These are “just a few of the comments and actions that indicates how Corbyn feels about Jews,” he said.

In their letter to the Guardian newspaper, United Arab List MKs Ahmed Tibi, Masoud Ganaim, Yussuf Jabareen and Jamal Zahlaka – writing “on behalf of all 13 members of the Knesset who are part of the United Arab List” – lauded Corbyn “for his longstanding solidarity with all oppressed peoples around the world, including his unflinching support for the Palestinian people. We stand in solidarity with Jeremy Corbyn and we recognize him as a principled leftist leader who aspires for peace and justice and is opposed to all forms of racism.”

They decided to write expressing support for Corbyn because “when some try to force the Labour Party into using as its litmus test a definition of anti-Semitism that goes far beyond anti-Jewish animus to include anti-Zionism, we must raise our voices and decry these efforts,” they wrote.

“As a Jewish and democratic state, we must protect ourselves from attempts by the UAL to undercut our values,” said Yogev. “As a Jewish state, we cannot ignore the insult and damage done to our brothers in the Diaspora,” he added.