We will talk to Andy Burnham about link between Israel-hate and antisemitic attacks, say Jewish leaders

The Board and the JLC welcomed Burnham’s “zero tolerance approach to antisemitism”, supported his “assertion that there is no contradiction between fighting antisemitism and disagreeing with actions of the Israeli government” and shared his concern over the humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

However they said that all sources of antisemitism needed to be confronted – including when criticism of Israel shifts to demonisation of the world’s only Jewish state.

“Antisemitism cannot be confronted without addressing all its drivers. In today’s Britain, this includes Islamist, far left and far right extremists who go beyond criticism of the Israeli government to a place of hatred directed at Jews and Israelis.

"These voices build on distorted or one-sided portrayals of the situation in Gaza and its causes, and ceaseless attempts to single out the world's only Jewish state,” said the Board and the JLC.

“As mayor of Greater Manchester during the Heaton Park attack, Andy Burnham knows first hand the links between hatred of Israel, antisemitic extremism and deadly violence against British Jews. We look forward to the opportunity to discuss these concerns directly with Andy Burnham and his team in the near future,” they added.

The groups went on to issue a caution about the rhetoric used by leaders when it comes to the conflict in the Middle East and the impact it is having on British Jews.

“In a country in which antisemitism has become more normalised, more extreme and more violent, we call on our leaders to show the utmost care in their rhetoric in relation to the conflict,” the joint statement said.

Last year, the Rabbi of Heaton Park Synagogue warned about the demonisation of the Jewish state and said that the terrorist who attacked his shul had a worldview rooted in the demonisation of Israel.

“There has to be some tackling of the source of this, someone didn't wake up one morning and decide to go attack my synagogue and kill my friends. He was he was born in an atmosphere of hate, and we have to find ways of challenging that,” Rabbi Daniel Walker told a conference in Krakow.

“We have to acknowledge that the root of that hate is definitely in the demonisation of Israel”, he said as he recounted witnessing terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie shout “They are killing our kids”.

Reacting to Burnham’s video on Gaza, Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, accused the incoming prime minister of kowtowing “to the sectarian vote” in his first significant foreign policy intervention.

Jonathan Cornicus, a former IDF spokesperson, was also hugely critical of Burnham’s remarks.

“Encountering yet another UK PM that parrots Hamas propaganda and seems totally out of his depth from the beginning makes me appreciate even Israeli politicians”, he said in a post on X.

Eylon Levy, a former Israeli government spokesperson, posted “I can’t believe I miss Starmer already” on social media, in reaction to the video.

The former mayor of Greater Manchester was also criticised, including by Green Party leader Zack Polanski, for refusing to label Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide”.

Adnan Hussain, an independent MP for Blackburn elected on a pro-Gaza platform, wrote on X: “Signatories to the Genocide Convention must act in the face of risk of genocide, not await its conclusion.”