Opposing ‘existence’ of Israel ‘not necessarily antisemitic’

Former Liberal Judaism leader Rabbi Danny Rich has argued it is “not necessarily” antisemitic to the oppose the “very existence” of the state of Israel.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Rich said “there have always been Jews who do not see themselves as Jewish by citizenship or race, but see themselves as a religious community who could live in any land.”

He had appeared along with former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell, and Goldsmiths University lecturer and author David Hirsh, on the Sunday programme which discusses issues around faith.

The programme picked up on a controversial recommendation in the recent Forde Report into Labour antisemitism, which suggested groups such as the pro-Jeremy Corbyn Jewish Voice For Labour should be able to contribute to the party’s antisemitism training sessions.

Rich declared he was not a member of JVL, despite attending previous meetings held by the group, and added he remained a member of the Jewish Labour Movement, who currently train Labour activists on antisemitism.

He was asked if he believed in was antisemitic to “oppose the very existence of the state of Israel as a state that is constitutionally defined as Jewish?”

Rich replied:”Not necessarily. There were many Jews at one time who didn’t believe in a Jewish state as such.

“The truth of the matter is we have an Israeli state which is a great state and one which I’m very proud of… ”

The Radio 4 programme picked up on claims by left-wingers that JLM failed to represent anti-Zionist opinion, but also gave the contributors a chance to give their view on whether anti-Zionism strayed into antisemitism.

Rich argued that to “simply say that someone who says they’d like a binational state id by definition an antisemite is nonsense.”

Although he added: “Of course there is a lot of antisemitism that’s hidden by people who claim to be anti-Zionist.”

Professor Hirsh was less charitable in his observation of JVL and its impact on Labour.

He said that bring JVL into any role would be including “people who have defended and denied all the worst antisemitic incidents and culture that have been going on in the Labour Party for the last five years.”

The Goldsmiths lecturer said he would have “not have problem” with anti-Zionism if it was purely about “criticism of Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians” and arguing in favour of a state were all have equal rights.

But Hirsh added that “overwhelmingly” anti-Zionism “demonises Israel and teaches people to think of it as a unique evil on the planet”.

He added: “Whenever I see anti-Zionism becoming influential in the culture of an organisation or a movement we see that antisemitism comes with it.”

Labour’s former shadow chancellorMcDonnell, now a backbench MP, argued in favour of including JVL citing “people in the Jewish community who are fundamentally anti-Zionist.”

A long-time supporter of JVL, McDonnell claimed he believed in a state of Israel “which you have everybody has equal status.”