MCB: ‘MPs should call Netanyahu ‘racist’ to get UK Muslim vote’

British politicians should condemn Benjamin Netanyahu as a war-monger if they want to appeal to the Muslim vote, according to a new election manifesto from the Muslim Council of Britain.

The umbrella body representing a wide range of Muslim organisations urged MPs to tackle Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, but insisted that politicians decry the Israeli prime minister as “racist”.

In addition, it suggests that Muslim voters will want parliamentarians to press for the “binding recognition” of Palestine as an independent state.

This was, said the authors, pursuant to an “ethical and consistent” foreign policy with respect for the “fundamental freedoms and human rights” of the Palestinian people.

“In the last year, the situation between Israel and Palestine had reached breaking point, with a heavy loss of life, particularly on the Palestinian side,” it says. “The racism displayed by the re-elected Israeli prime minister [Netanyahu] re-affirms the widely held view that his government is not serious for peace.”

It follows a divisive Israeli election, in which Netanyahu urged Jewish Israelis to vote for his right-wing Likud party because Israeli Arabs were “voting in droves,” a comment widely viewed as racist and problematic, not least by the White House.