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Dangers that lie in the shadows

September 17, 2015 11:01
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By

Marcus Dysch,

Marcus Dysch

3 min read

By the time Jeremy Corbyn tweeted a Rosh Hashanah greeting wishing the community a "sweet and Happy New Year" on Sunday afternoon, Jewish Labour supporters had already spent more than 24 hours attempting to come to terms with his election as leader of the opposition.

Senior Jewish figures in the party and across the community greeted his win with a mixture of shock, dismay and, in some cases, quiet acceptance.

While there were reports of some Jewish supporters rescinding their party memberships in the hours after Mr Corbyn's election, communal organisations adopted a wait-and-see policy.

On Sunday night, Ivan Lewis, the most senior Jewish shadow cabinet minister, was one of the first to be sacked. A former minister, the Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary had attacked Mr Corbyn's views during the leadership election as a "cause for serious concern" and said he had shown "very poor judgment".