Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said that Israel does have a “right to exist” at a Labour leadership election hustings organised by the Jewish News.
Corbyn, who is considered the most pro-Palestinian political party leader in British history, also expressed admiration for aspects of Israel.
He was speaking during a debate with Owen Smith ahead of the result of the Labour Party leadership election being announced on Saturday. Corbyn is expected to comfortably win the vote.
In answer to a question from the audience, he said: “Yes Israel does have a right to exist and there has to be a two-state solution… The original borders of Israel were agreed in 1948. I do want there to be a long-term peace in the area; I do want there to be a recognition of a Palestinian state therefore I do want the settlement policy to end and the occupation to end so that we have a clear view of the Israeli state and what it will be and hopefully a universally-recognized Palestinian state.”
And when asked about what he admired about Israel, he replied: “I admire the verve and spirit of the towns and cities in Israel., the life and the way people conduct themselves. I admire the separation of legal and political powers and the system of democratic government that’s there. And I admire many of the technical and industrial achievements that Israel has made and the very advanced technology that it has helped to develop in so many ways in medicine as well as telecommunications technology.”
Although Corbyn’s comments are in line with Labour Party policy they may dismay many pro-Palestinian activists who argue that Israel has no “right to exist” in its current form, just like Apartheid South Africa had no right to exist. These activists say given that Israel was created through ethnic cleansing and theft of land, and given that it is sustained through war and oppression, we should not recognise its so-called right to exist.
During the debate, Corbyn was occasionally heckled by an audience that was packed full of Israel supporters who repeatedly questionned him about anti-semitism within the Labour Party. However, he did condemn Israeli settlements in the debate during which he otherwise seemed to avoid trenchant criticism of Israel.
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“I think the boycott of settlement goods is a reasonable response to, after all, what are illegal settlements,” he said. “… I think that the companies that are exporting goods from the settlements and who are trying to hide the labeling are wrong and the EU has indeed recognized that to be wrong, so surely that is quite an important message to the Israeli government that products produced within Israel are fine but the products from the settlements should not be sold on the open market.”
For his part, Owen Smith said he supported Israel’s right to exist as well as Palestine’s, and said supporters of Israel were welcome in the Labour Party. He added that he admired the strength of Israel as a nation and culturally and opposed boycotts against it.
