THE BBC is under fire after one of the hosts of its flagship Radio 4 Today programme was accused of questioning whether Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is a “proper Jew”.
The Labour minister appeared on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday morning to speak about the UK Government’s ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements.
On Tuesday, Miliband announced the ban as he ended the Labour Government’s 26-month silence on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling which said that Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian territories (like Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank) was “illegal”.
The ruling obliged states such as the UK to refrain from any dealings related to occupied Palestinian land, which the Labour Government has now done. However, the UK’s chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, claimed that the ban on trade with illegal settlements would have a negative impact on Jewish people across the world.
On BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday, host Justin Webb claimed that Miliband had made “a huge meal of” the actions against Israel and raised Mirvis’s comments, saying that “British Jews” may feel less safe.
Miliband, whose parents were Jews who fled to the UK during World War Two, said: “Well, I speak as a British Jew, and the reason we took the action yesterday is because we see the two-state solution – the only hope in my view for security and dignity for both the Israeli and Palestinian people – being destroyed before our eyes by the facts on the ground, the ever expanding settlement expansion.”
Webb then went on to ask: “You've made much of the fact that you yourself have Jewish heritage.
“I don't know whether you're intending to go to a synagogue this weekend, as many British Jews will be, many of whom will feel less safe. What do you say, not to Ephraim Mirvis, but to them, to individuals?
Miliband began by saying he does “not go to synagogue”, but was twice cut off as Webb went on: “Isn't that then the point? That actually for a lot of British Jews, they really feel this. They have to have security duties at synagogues. They know that there have been violent attacks. And that is why when Ephraim Mirvis uses those words.
“They mean an awful lot to them and perhaps frankly, less to you.”
Justin Webb doing 'the wrong kind of Jew' during his interview with Ed Miliband on Radio 4s flagship morning politics program. pic.twitter.com/abhODH5xBU
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) September 9, 2026
The Foreign Secretary said he did not agree with Webb’s assertion, going on: “Antisemitism is a scourge and an evil, whether it happens on the streets, in our schools, online or in workplaces, and I accept our responsibilities as a government and indeed as a society to counter antisemitism.
“I want Jews, I want people of all faiths and none to feel safe in our country. We will pursue that with the utmost vigour at the same time as doing the right things when it comes to our foreign policy.”
The BBC host’s questions have been widely criticised online. The FT’s UK news editor Henry Mance said: “There's a constant insinuation that Ed Miliband is not a 'real Jew', and it seems very bad.”
Mic Wright, the journalist and media commentator, made a similar claim, writing on social media: “Justin Webb is doing the ‘you’re not a *proper* Jew, are you?’ thing to Ed Miliband on the Today programme.”
Ben Jamal, the director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said the interview “struck a new low”.
“He effectively suggested Miliband wasn’t Jewish because he didn't attend synagogue,” Jamal said. “The entire treatment of the issue by the programme was appalling.
“Soft soap interview of the Israeli spokesperson who was not challenged on the ICJ judgement on the illegality of the occupation, nor on the active support of the Israeli Government for settler violence.
“Central frame of Miliband interview was antisemitism, safety of British Jews alongside the expected pro-Israel talking points.”
Other social media users said they had “listened in disbelief” and that Webb’s questions had been “genuinely quite shocking”, “vile”, and “tone-deaf”.
The BBC has been asked for a response.
