Red Ed Miliband graced the airwaves this morning to inform the Chief Rabbi that he is wrong about the impact of UK sanctions on Israeli settlements. Sir Ephraim Mirvis described yesterday as a ‘truly dark day for British Jews’, warning that the measures announced ‘amount to little more than political flag bearing for anti-Israel rhetoric and those who harbour a dangerous obsession’.
This morning, the Foreign Secretary – suddenly deciding that his Jewish identity might come in handy – declared: ‘I don’t agree with the Chief Rabbi.’ After conceding that he never attends synagogue and therefore does not experience the reality of having to worship under such heavy-handed security, Miliband told Sky News:
I have great respect for the chief rabbi, but I don’t agree with him, and I believe that it must be possible to do what we did yesterday, which is to stand up for British values of the rule of law, of dignity for people, of the prevention of injustice, and do so in a way, as I did yesterday, to say to anyone in our country who holds British Jews responsible for the actions of the Israeli government, that is antisemitism, pure and simple.
Funnily enough, Mr S cannot recall Miliband making quite so much of his Jewish credentials during the Corbyn era and Labour’s antisemitism crisis. For Red Ed, it seems identity politics is kosher when it suits.
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