BICOM

Israel’s Ambassador to the UK, Daniel Taub yesterday urged Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to take forceful action over Liberal Democrat MP David Ward’s comments following the Paris terror attacks last week.

After Sunday’s huge solidarity rally in Paris, which was attended by numerous international leaders, Ward, the representative for Bradford East, tweeted that the presence of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the event “makes me feel sick.” In a letter to Liberal Democrat leader Clegg, Taub said, “At a time when world leaders were united in condemnation of extremist atrocities, Mr Ward’s statement is a disgraceful attempt to politicise suffering, delegitimise Israel, and justify acts of terror.” He added, “It also exhibits a callous disregard for the Jews of France, many of whom look to Israel as they are increasingly targeted because of their religion.”

Taub called on Clegg to take “forceful and immediate action” against the backbench MP, who also appeared to take issue with the “Je Suis Charlie” slogan, instead tweeting “Je Suis #Palestinian.” A Liberal Democrat spokesman last night said, “We utterly condemn David Ward’s comments, they are not representative of the Liberal Democrats.” Ward has a long record of hostility towards Israel. He has publicly referred to Israel as an apartheid state and during Operation Protective Edge said that if he lived in Gaza he would “probably” fire rockets at Israel.

In 2013, Ward was briefly suspended by the Liberal Democrats after writing on his website that “the Jews, who suffered unbelievable levels of persecution during the Holocaust, could … be inflicting atrocities on Palestinians in the new State of Israel.”

The latest controversy over Ward comes as research was published indicating a growing anxiety over anti-Semitism in the UK. A survey compiled by the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism concluded that more than half of UK Jews fear that there is no future for Jews in Britain. At the same time, a YouGov poll indicates that 45 per cent of the British public agree with at least one of four anti-Semitic statements when presented with them. They include the suggestion that, “Jews chase money more than other British people” and the allegation that loyalty to Israel makes Jews less loyal to Britain than their compatriots.