An appearance by the Labour leader on Iranian state TV has been unearthed two days after he released a grovelling apology for his party’s anti-Semitism crisis
A SHOCKING video has been unearthed showing Jeremy Corbyn appearing to question Israel’s very right to exist.
An appearance by the Labour leader on Iranian state TV saw him claim the Israeli embassy in the UK puts pressure on the BBC into saying it does.
And speaking in 2011, he claimed the then-director general Mark Thompson “seems to me to have an agenda” when it comes to reporting on Israel.
The latest controversy comes just two days after Mr Corbyn released a grovelling apology for his party’s anti-Semitism crisis.
But in comments to Press TV seven years ago, he said: "There is pressure on the BBC from probably Mark Thompson, who seems to me to have an agenda in this respect.
"There seems to be a great deal of pressure on the BBC from the Israeli government and the Israeli embassy, and they are very assertive towards all journalists and to the BBC itself - they challenge every single thing on reporting the whole time.”
He added: "I think there is a bias towards saying that Israel is a democracy in the Middle East, that Israel has a right to exist, that Israel has its security concerns."
Under the Labour party’s code on anti-Semitism, a person would be in breach for questioning Israel's right to exist.
It is not the first time Mr Corbyn’s previous comments have appeared to break such rules, after he was filmed comparing Israel to Nazi Germany.
And in another clip, this time to Aletejah TV, questioned Israel’s very foundation and attacked Britain’s historic role in the Balfour Declaration.
But a Labour spokesman denied this was the case, saying: "Jeremy was arguing that despite the occupation of Palestinian territory and the lack of a Palestinian state, Israeli concerns and perspectives are more likely to appear prominently in news reporting than Palestinian ones.
"Jeremy is committed to a comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on a two-state solution - a secure Israel alongside a secure and viable state of Palestine.
"The Israeli government is well known to run an effective and highly professional media operation."
However Labour MP John Mann, chair of the all-party group on anti-Semitism, said: “I’m sure Jeremy will want to set the record state immediately - preferably by making a statement on the BBC.”
Simon Johnson, chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, tweeted in response: “Sorry Mr Corbyn.
“Do you therefore think that Israel is NOT a democracy, does NOT have a right to exist and does NOT have security concerns?
“And that an organisation is biased if it DOES believe these things? Wow. That seems to differ somewhat from the policy of the party you lead.”
And Jennifer Gerber, director of Labour Friends of Israel, said: "In these deplorable remarks, not only does Jeremy Corbyn use another appearance on Iranian state TV to engage in further wild conspiracy theories about Israel, he also questions the Jewish state's right to exist.
“Is it any wonder he has resisted so hard adopting the full IHRA definition of antisemitism?"
A spokesman for Labour Against Antisemitism said: “This film reveals once again why Jeremy Corbyn might have a problem if the Labour Party re-adopts the IHRA definition of antisemitism definition.
“Questioning Israel’s right to exist, as Mr Corbyn appears to do, could be defined as anti-Semitic under the IHRA definition, and many Jews would find such comments highly offensive.
“His comments also suggest he believes that there is some kind of pro-Israeli agenda at the heart of the BBC – a bizarre suggestion that echoes historical and racially motivated fears of Jewish conspiracy.”
