Labour minister rebukes Corbyn over his claims about Israel Commons exchange
Hamish Falconer MP tells the Islington North MP his account ' omits the context in which the exchange took place'
Labour’s Middle East minister, Hamish Falconer, has rebuked Jeremy Corbyn after the Islington North MP accused him of making “baseless smears” during a Commons exchange about Israel’s illegal settlement expansion.
The dispute arose following Wednesday’s Urgent Question on the E1 settlement expansion, where Corbyn criticised what he called “hand-wringing” over the issue, describing it as “part of the Greater Israel plan.”
Falconer responded by noting that support for settlement policy is not universal within Israel and emphasised the harm settlement expansion causes to Israel itself.
Corbyn subsequently posted a brief video clip of the exchange, accusing Falconer of a “shocking and disgraceful response.”
Online News outlets Politics Joe and Novara Media also backed Corbyn’s claims, suggesting Falconer had accused him of antisemitism, by using only a brief clip of the debate.
However, Falconer clarified in a letter that Corbyn had taken his remarks out of context.
“You quote both my question and my response. However, the account omits the context in which the exchange took place,” wrote Falconer.
He also explained that after responding to Corbyn, he had returned to a separate point raised earlier by Conservative MP Andrew Murrison, who warned against blaming British Jews for the actions of Israel.
Falconer’s comments were directed at the need to avoid conflating Israel’s actions with Jewish communities either in Israel or the UK.
During the debate, Falconer said: “I hope you will forgive me, Madam Deputy Speaker, if I come back to the point about antisemitism. We must be really careful in our language. There are many, many Israelis—and indeed many, many British Jews—who can see the terrible damage being done by violent settlement, and we must not tar communities in this country or the whole nation of Israel with the same brush.”
Corbyn later wrote to Falconer, stating: “It is plainly false—and frankly disgusting—to imply that my statement served to ‘tar communities in this country’ with ‘the same brush.’”
He added:” At no point did I state that settlements are supported by the entirety of the population of Israel. Nor did I make any reference to British Jews at all. In levelling such a baseless accusation, you appear to have conflated the actions of Israel with the views of Jewish people— itself a textbook case of antisemitism.”
But in his own letter of reply Falconer urged Corbyn to review the Hansard record of the debate, stating that it was clear his remarks about antisemitism were a separate response to concerns raised earlier in the session, not a direct accusation against Corbyn.
The Hansard record of the debate “makes it clear I was returning to a separate point raised earlier in the debate and explicitly identified as such,” Falconer claried.