Jeremy Corbyn claimed that Israeli officials control the speeches made by British MPs, in bizarre comments that have been called an ‘anti-Semitic conspiracy theory’ which ‘casts Jews as sinister manipulators’, MailOnline can reveal.
The remarks were captured on video in 2010, at a meeting of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) in London. In a speech about the shooting of Turkish activists at sea by the Israeli commandos, the Labour leader said:
‘[British MPs] all turned up [to the debating chamber] with a pre-prepared script. I’m sure our friend Ron Prosor (the Israeli ambassador) wrote it.
‘Because they all came up with the same key words. It was rather like reading a European document looking for buzz-words.
‘And the buzz-words were, “Israel’s need for security”. And then “the extremism of the people on one ship”. And “the existence of Turkish militants on the vessel”.
‘It came through in every single speech, this stuff came through.’
MailOnline has examined the transcript of the debate in question and could find no evidence that any of Mr Corbyn’s ‘buzz words’ were mentioned by MPs.
In addition, a number of parliamentarians who spoke during the session have confirmed to MailOnline that they received no such ‘pre-prepared script’ or ‘buzz-words’ from Israeli sources.
Alistair Burt, the Tory MP who moved the motion, said: ‘My only script is from the Foreign Office and I then answer spontaneously to the debate. I have no other briefing’.
Labour MP Richard Burden, who also spoke at the debate, said: ‘I certainly don’t recall the Israeli Embassy giving me any kind of pre-prepared script for that debate, or at any other time.’
The claims add to the pressure facing the Labour leader after MailOnline revealed that he had accused British Zionists of ‘not understanding English irony’ last week.
Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, said: ‘Antisemitic conspiracy theories cast Jews as sinister manipulators, pulling the strings and subverting democracy.
‘Without any evidence, Jeremy Corbyn seems to have visions of the Jewish state literally putting words into many of our politicians’ mouths.
‘However, when it comes to malicious influence from the Middle East, the politician who springs to mind is Mr Corbyn himself, with his full schedule of trips to visit genocidal antisemitic terrorist organisations.’
A Labour spokesman has been contacted for comment.
It follows claims that hundreds of complaints alleging antisemitism in Labour are going unaddressed by party officials, as it was revealed that Jewish Labour MPs are being provided with security guards at this year’s party conference.
Volunteer charity Campaign Against Antisemitism started the petition to oust Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) on Change.org this week
Insiders say the party’s internal investigations unit has collapsed as Mr Corbyn has promised to speed up the party’s disciplinary process.
Labour’s former head of the compliance unit and at least two others have left, leaving only one staff member to investigate the mounting number of cases of alleged antisemitism, the Times reported.
A spokesman told the paper: ‘We have robust processes for dealing with complaints we receive. We don’t comment on staffing matters.’
It comes as Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger attacked Mr Corbyn for accusing British Zionists of having ‘no sense of irony’ despite having ‘lived in Britain all of their lives’.
The former Shadow Minister for public health said she felt ‘unwelcome’ in her own party after Mr Corbyn’s ‘inexcusable comments’ that were revealed by the MailOnline last week.
Campaigners have renewed calls for Corbyn to step down as leader in an online petition.
Volunteer charity Campaign Against Antisemitism started a Change.org campaign this week calling for Labour MPs to issue a vote of no-confidence in the embattled leader.
Entitled ‘For the many not the Jew’, the petition has already garnered over 5,000 signatures.
A message accompanying the description reads: ‘For weeks, events from Jeremy Corbyn’s disturbing past have trickled into the light.
In a statement released on Friday evening, Mr Corbyn said he had been defending the ambassador from ‘what I thought were deliberate misrepresentations’ by people ‘for whom English was a first language, when it isn’t for the ambassador’.
Mr Corbyn said: ‘I described those pro-Israel activists as Zionists, in the accurate political sense and not as a euphemism for Jewish people – and that is made clear in the rest of my speech that day.
‘I am now more careful with how I might use the term ‘Zionist’ because a once self-identifying political term has been increasingly hijacked by anti-Semites as code for Jews.’