WATCH: Mark Regev On The Antisemitism Of The Left And British Labor

Israeli Ambassador to the UK Mark Regev recently wrote this Guardian piece about antisemitism disguised as anti-Zionism and how infects too much of the Left, including the British Labor party.

Here he speaks to the UK’s Channel 4 about it, doing an admirable job in the face of a rather hostile interviewer (what’s new?)

10 thoughts on “WATCH: Mark Regev On The Antisemitism Of The Left And British Labor”

  1. He did very well under the circumstances. I just wish at the end he’d pointed out that Israel is planning new housing units in an EXISTING settlement, not “new settlements”

  2. I have liked Mark Regev for a long time. He was an effective spokesman for the prime minister’s office and always provided a clear and compelling defense of Israel. But as Israel’s ambassador to the UK, should he now be the one tasked to expose anti-Semitic elements within Britain’s political system? British organizations and individuals are more than capable of doing this and doing a more effective job.

    1. He specifically targeted the hypocrisy of antisemitic elements, which masquerade as upholding the values of the left, in the way it is used to attack Israel.

      1. It’s a good argument. As Israeli ambassador to the UK, he probably is not the one to be making it. Champion other Brits who are making the argument for sure; but he should not be critiquing the British political system as he did in the Guardian piece.

        1. I didn’t read it as a critique of the political system at all. I realise that that is what the interviewer was accusing him of as well. I read it as a critique of individuals, who condemn Israel (hence the connection to his ambassadorship) and openly vocalise support for terrorist groups, while claiming to be doing so, BECAUSE they are aligned with the left. Whereas, historically, and specifically demonstrated by the recent commemoration, their support and condemnation should be in reverse. He should very much be making this point, because, in making their case for their support of their token “oppressed Palestinians”, the very shrill minority (one hopes) of these left, often state that their country should not have any diplomatic relations with Israel. In fact, the call to end diplomatic relations with Israel is essentially a component of BDS, and therefore more relevant to a representative of Israel, than to a representative of British Jewry.

  3. His article in The Guardian was really very mild, not particularly controversial, more a historical piece. I’m sure the interviewer thought she was being “cutting edge”, but really, her questions exemplified some of the things Mark was talking about, how the left appropriate all sorts of evils to Zionism, a movement very much aligned with their own ideology. He was making the point that, given the fact that Zionism’s values are so well aligned with the left’s ideology, and that the ideology of Hamas and Hesbollah is the complete antithesis of the left’s values, attacking Zionism, particularly by shouting support for these terrorist groups, is more to do with antisemitism, than what Zionism stands for. By claiming that Mark Regev insulted Corbyn, when he didn’t mention him in the article, kind of makes Regev’s point really.

  4. If you think the interviewer was somewhat hostile, this is the norm in the English media in fact she was quite “mild” compared to many. To witness a real hostile channel 4 interviewer on Israel, google Jon Snow, I remember during the last war in Gaza when he made sure to let every one know that as far as he was concerned there were no “human shields”. also when the incident of a civilian plane being shot down with the loss of all its passengers he tweeted that he hopes this news will not push the Gaza news to the background (how very revealing )

  5. ahad_ha_amoratsim

    When someone brings up the canard that any criticism of Israel is immediately shot down as anti-Semitism, you have a pretty good idea who you are talking to.

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