BICOM

Two Labour members of Israel’s parliament attending the Labour Party conference in Brighton expressed concern yesterday over party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s stance on Israel and the region. Concerns were compounded when Corbyn failed to mention Israel in a speech to the Labour Friends of Israel reception on Tuesday evening.

Corbyn has long been a pro-Palestinian activist and a sharp critic of Israel. Michal Biran MK, participating in a Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) panel at the Brighton conference, described an awkward “weird situation” in which a sister party is led by someone who has previously termed Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends.” She said that Corbyn perhaps doesn’t realise “that Israel is the only place in the Middle East where you can see a gay parade. It is the only place in the Middle East where you have freedom of speech, equality for women.” In an op-ed in the Guardian, Biran added that, “Delegitimising the State of Israel is a declaration of war… against the only place in the Middle East that holds free elections.” However, she expressed confidence “that the values we share are greater than the ones that set us apart.”

Meanwhile, Corbyn himself addressed an LFI reception at conference yesterday, as has become convention for the party leader. Corbyn spoke for around ten minutes, emphasising the need for dialogue on both sides of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. He said, “I hope we can promote and encourage that peace process and that dialogue.” However, as vocally noted by one heckler, Corbyn omitted to mention Israel at all during his speech, even while highlighting the importance of “The issue of the recognition of Palestine.”

Speaking in response, another Israel Labour MK, Erel Margalit called on Corbyn “to be loud and clear in condemning Hamas, condemning Hezbollah and condemning the extreme forces in the Middle East – and support Israel and the moderate forces who are willing to fight the extremists together.” Margalit noted that, “The Palestinian Authority is an ally” and that they too “are struggling with the extreme militants of Hamas that are undermining the very chance of a peace settlement.”