MP asked to clarify comment: ‘Israel “fabricates” reasons to kill Palestinians’

Jewish communal leaders have asked Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter to clarify remarks he made at a meeting of the Palestinian Return Centre on 27 October, implying that Israel “fabricates” reasons to kill Palestinians.

The Labour parliamentarian spoke moments after Gerald Kaufman MP, who caused outrage for saying “Jewish money” was behind the government’s unwavering support for Israel.

Slaughter is alleged to have agreed with Kaufman in saying that the Israel “fabricates and invents” reasons to attack innocent Palestinians, and in a joint letter from the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust, he was asked to “clarify” what he meant.

“Such comments risk encouraging anti-Semitism here in Britain, should the tensions in Israel escalate further,” said a Board of Deputies spokesman. “We await Mr Slaughter’s reply.”