Board president: It’s like Corbyn has ‘declared war on the Jews’

The president of the Board of Deputies has accused Jeremy Corbyn of having “declared war on the Jews”, in a scathing interview on Israeli TV.

Marie van der Zyl told Israeli station i24News that if the Labour leader became prime minister it would represent “a threat to world security”, as there “probably aren’t going to be any” UK-Israel relations.

She reacted to new revelations, exposed by the Israeli site this week, that Corbyn was involved in a visit to Jerusalem in 2010, where he met Hamas members but failed to declare the trip in the parliamentary register of interests.

She said: “Every day you think it cannot get any worse but every day it does. We’re learning that he’s spent more and more time with terrorists, with extremists.”

The UK Jewish leader said the community is “feeling nervous, we’re feeling anxious, it’s like Jeremy Corbyn has declared war on the Jews at home. We’ve never been in this situation, it’s unprecedented.”

Describing his “cult” status among supporters, she said “his hatred of Israel and Zionism runs so deep, he cannot separate that from anti-Semitism.”

Van der Zyl asked why “good people” saw Corbyn, who “spends his time with.. people that threaten the security of Britain”, as a potential future prime minister, adding that if he were to get the top job it would have “major implications, not just for Jews”.