By, Sandy Rashty
1 min read
BySandy Rashty, Sandy Rashty
Ed Miliband has described himself as a “friend of Israel” after he was questioned about his support for the country following controversial comments during last summer’s Gaza conflict.
The Labour leader attended a pre-election question-and-answer session with residents in Hendon, north-west London, this morning.
One Jewish woman said she was reluctant to vote for Labour candidate Andrew Dismore as a result of Mr Miliband’s statements on Israel and Gaza during the conflict.
The Labour leader had attacked Israel’s operation in Gaza last summer as “unacceptable and unjustifiable”. He also criticised David Cameron, suggesting the Prime Minister had been too timid in his response to Israel’s actions.
That was followed by the Labour frontbench’s decision to whip MPs into backing unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in October.
We have to make a judgment about whether the action Israel took was proportionate
Mr Miliband said: “The reason I spoke out on Gaza is not because I don’t believe in Israel’s right to defend itself – but we have to make a judgment about whether the action Israel took was proportionate.
“I honestly don’t believe that the action Israel took, and the deaths of people on both sides, actually helped resolve the situation.”
He added: “There are different views of the community on this. But where the community is united, is that criticism of the Israeli government, of what it did, is just in a totally different category to whether we question Israel’s right to exist.
“We should have zero tolerance to those who do question Israel’s right to exist.
“We cannot put ourselves in a position where different views in the community are either ‘anti-Israel’ or ‘pro-Israel’ – I just don’t buy that.”
Mr Miliband also spoke about combatting antisemitism on campuses and securing funding for the Community Security Trust.
“We must fight antisemitism wherever we find it,” he added.
