The Board of Deputies has called on the Green Party to condemn a parliamentary candidate, after she called Israel “a racist and apartheid state” this week.
Tanya Williams, the Green candidate for Twickenham, made the comments at an Amnesty International hustings on Tuesday.
According to the news website SW Londoner, she said: “[Israel is] a racist state and an apartheid state.
“South Africa got its act together after decades of campaigning and I hope Israel may eventually too.
“I think it is time to stand up to the myth that Israel and Palestine are both equal participants in this conflict.”
She called on the UK government to cease political and economic trade ties with Israel, which she described an undemocratic.
Ms Williams added: “I personally think we need to stop supporting Israel, whether that’s trading arms with them or politically, or treating them like a beacon of democracy in the Middle East which they are not.”
Journalist Alex Brummer, who is in the running to be President of the Board, said: “We call on the Green Party to disavow this inflammatory statement which attacked the only democracy in the region at a time when Palestinians are being starved to death at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria under siege from ISIS murderers.”
He added: “The comments on the Middle East from the Green Party candidate in Twickenham are wholly unacceptable.
“They are based on falsehoods, ignorance and sheer prejudice against Israel and its supporters.
“Remarks like this can only fuel antagonism against the British Jewish community at a time when antisemitism is on the rise.”
The Green Party have been contacted for comment.
