Member of Knesset Nachman Shai, a member of Israel’s Labour party now called the Zionist Union, called for his party to cut its ties with its British counterpart, saying it is no longer an ally after two more UK Labour Party members were suspended on Monday for posting anti-Israel messages on social media.
“[Labour Party head Jeremy] Corbyn must ensure anti-Semitic statements will no longer be sounded from his party,” Shai said, Israel Radio reported.
Shai made his comments as UK Labour suspended yet another party member for anti-Israel posts on social media.
Salim Mulla, a Blackburn city councilor, was also suspended on Monday after anti-Israel Facebook posts he wrote surfaced.
Mulla was suspended the same day as Nottingham City councilor Ilyas Aziz, who was suspended for similar reasons, and shortly after former London mayor Ken Livingstone, who was on the party’s executive council, and Labour legislator Naz Shah were suspended for anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks.
Corbyn has launched an independent review of anti-Semitism and racism within its ranks, after several recent revelations that several party members had made anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements.
The UK Telegraph reported Monday that Labour has secretly suspended 50 of its members over anti-Semitic and racist comments. They include up to 20 members within the past two weeks alone. The suspensions that have been made public so far are said to be just the tip of the iceberg.
On Sunday night, shadow education secretary Lucy Powell became the first shadow cabinet minister to acknowledge the party had a problem with anti-Semitism.
“There clearly is an issue with anti-Semitism in the Labour Party otherwise we wouldn’t have spent the best part of the last six or seven days talking about it,” She told Channel 4 News.
“I think it is a very small element within the Labour Party and probably a small element in wider society as well. And that’s why we are taking swift action to root it out.”
By: Max Gelber, United with Israel