UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn again refused an invitation to visit Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.
Labor Member of Knesset Amir Peretz sent a missive to Jeremy Corbyn, expressing dismay over the British Labour Party leader’s decline of an invitation to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.
“Perhaps your refusal stems from a problem of personal identity, which clashes with the values of the universal world in general, and the social democratic ones in particular,” Peretz wrote to Corbyn on Sunday.
“Perhaps this is the result of political opportunism of the lowest kind, which deters you from facing anti-Semitic elements, and particularly within your own party, including the harsh remarks by former London Mayor Ken Livingstone. It is also possible that this stems from a lack of understanding of contemporary anti-Semitism,” the letter stated.
Peretz concluded by calling on Corbyn to reconsider the invitation.
A copy of the letter was also sent to the British Ambassador to Israel David Quarrey.
Corbyn has refused several invitations by Israeli leaders to visit Yad Vashem. In September, for instance, he cited prior commitments when turning down an invitation from Israeli Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog.
“I’m very disappointed Jeremy turned down the invitation to visit Israel from our sister party,” Labour MP Joan Ryan, head of Labour Friends of Israel, was quoted as saying at the time.
“It is not surprising that Jeremy Corbyn is not viewed as a potential prime minister by the public when he cannot handle diplomatic issues like this,” Labour MP Wes Streeting said. “This shows why so many people think he is not fit to be prime minister and why many Labour voters would prefer Theresa May.”
Herzog’s invitation was extended in the wake of several scandals involving Labour MPs who made anti-Semitic statements.
By: United with Israel Staff
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