Become a Member
Opinion

Ken Livingstone’s claims are an insult to the truth

The former mayor of London's comments about Hitler, Jews and Zionism are distortions or inventions which insult the historical memory of the Jewish people

March 31, 2017 20:54
Members of the Haganah. Suggestions that the Nazis supplied Zionist fighters with arms are "baseless"
2 min read

Defending himself during the Labour Party inquiry into his past statements about antisemitism, Ken Livingstone has unleashed a series of unfounded charges of “collaboration” between Jews and Nazis.

According to him, not only was there a deal with the Third Reich (the Transfer Agreement or Ha’avara), but the SS also established training camps for German Jews, Hitler passed a law permitting the flying of the Zionist flag, and the Nazis supplied weapons (Mauser pistols) to the Jewish underground.

All these claims are distortions or inventions. The Transfer Agreement, for example, allowed the salvaging of some German-Jewish assets from confiscation by Hitler’s regime while facilitating the rescue of many thousands of individuals. In his written submission to the Labour inquiry, Livingstone cites two sources on the agreement: one paper by Yf’aat Weiss and another by Francis Nicosia, who is also the author of two books examining the issue. Neither the papers nor Nicosia’s books endorse the “collaboration” fantasy.

Livingstone’s other “facts” are just as unreliable: