The leaked letter signed by significant figures in the Israeli political and cultural establishments, including former prime ministers and heads of the security services, threatening legal action over an “ideology of ethnic cleansing” in the occupied West Bank, is an important intervention (Israeli former leaders and security chiefs threaten legal action over ‘Jewish terrorism’, 24 June).
Notably, while making comparisons with European anti‑Jewish pogroms in the 19th and 20th centuries, they also draw attention to the way in which Israel’s actions have fuelled antisemitism around the world.
In his resignation speech, Keir Starmer praised himself for “ripping out the poison of antisemitism” in the Labour party. By waging factional war, while failing to draw any real distinction between genuine antisemitism and opposition to Israel’s policies, he contrived to expel disproportionate numbers of Jewish Labour party members who felt strongly about Israel’s war crimes and breaches of international law.
While fighting antisemitism and all forms of racism remains critical, the Israeli intervention should finally put to rest the notion that appeasing Israel in its perpetration of war crimes contributes to a reduction of antisemitism, when the truth is the reverse.
Dr Anthony Isaacs
London
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