Israeli ambassador in UK calls on Corbyn to visit Israel

Amid ongoing questions about the Labour leader’s response to response to anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements made by party members in recent weeks, Israel’s ambassador to the UK has called on Jeremy Corbyn to visit Israel.

Speaking on the BBC’s “Andrew Marr Show,” Mark Regev said that the leader of the Israeli Labor party, Isaac Herzog, had invited Corbyn to Israel and that he “hopes he does so.”

Regev was addressing a rising tide of anti-Semitic outbursts by Labour party members, including most recently Ken Livingstone, who was suspended from the party on Thursday for declaring and continuing to insist that Adolf Hitler was initially a Zionist.

“I think Jeremy Corbyn, from what I’ve seen, seems to be personally proud of the fact that his parents marched against the fascists, against the anti-Semites in the famous Cable Street battle. The left does have a proud history of fighting anti-Semitism. But it doesn’t mean the left have always been immune to anti-Semitism. I think it’s crucial that leadership stands up and says ‘this is unacceptable.’” he told the program.

“Can you imagine someone in the Labour party sharing a platform with someone who is an anti-black racist?” he added. “Or someone who is homophobic and called for hatred of homosexuals?”

Corbyn called on Friday for an independent inquiry into anti-Semitism and racism within the Labour party, after initially denying there was a problem.