They say a man is judged by the company he keeps. And it appears Jeremy Corbyn has friends who are regarded as enemies of Israel. As a result, his victory raised quite a few eyebrows in the Israeli Labour party. It seemed that the UK Labour party, our ideological counterpart, had now turned its back on us. After all, Corbyn, well known as a harsh critic of Israel, had been elected by almost 60% of Labour party members. Furthermore, perhaps calling Corbyn a “harsh critic” is an understatement in light of some of his statements.

The Israeli Labour party is itself a harsh critic of the Israeli government’s policy. We fiercely object to the current government’s settlement policy; we oppose its social and economic policy; we speak up loudly and clearly as to its short-sightedness when it comes to reinitiating talks with the Palestinian Authority. However, there is a clear line that one must draw, and which separates our views from those of the new British Labour leader.

Our common social-democratic values stand in complete contrast to those of Hamas and Hezbollah. They choose violence over peace and oppression over freedom. Surely their ideal society is not one in which many of us would like to live. These are terrorist organisations that have vowed to destroy the State of Israel. It is one thing to criticise the Israeli government, it is something else to befriend terrorist organisations as a means of opposition.

Read the article in full at the Guardian.