UK election: Jeremy Corbyn struggles to counter anti-Semitism charge by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis

Jeremy Corbyn has his toughest day of the campaign as Britain’s Chief Rabbi enters the election.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, left, says Jeremy Corbyn was unfit for high office and that Labour’s efforts to tackle anti-Semitism were a “mendacious fiction”.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has struggled to defuse harsh criticism about anti-Semitism levelled at both himself and the party by Britain’s Chief Rabbi.

In what was arguably his most difficult day in the general election campaign so far, Mr Corbyn faced a multitude of questions over Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis’ damaging remarks in The Times newspaper.

The influential rabbi implied that Mr Corbyn was unfit for high office and that Labour’s efforts to tackle anti-Semitism were a “mendacious fiction”.

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The “overwhelming majority” of Britain’s Jews, Rabbi Mrivis added, were “gripped by anxiety” about Mr Corbyn’s possible election.

“A new poison, sanctioned from the top, has taken root in the Labour Party,” he said.

While voicing his disapproval of all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism, Mr Corbyn declined repeatedly to apologise during a prime-time BBC interview for any anti-Semitism that has occurred in the Labour Party over the past few years.

“We will not allow anti-Semitism in any form in our society because it is poisonous and divisive, just as much as Islamophobia or far-right racism is,” Mr Corbyn said in the interview with the veteran BBC broadcaster Andrew Neil.

Jeremy Corbyn appears on the BBC political program The Andrew Neil Show.

Mr Corbyn insisted he had “strengthened” Labour’s processes on how to deal with anti-Semitism in the party since a written warning was given to a member who questioned the number of people who died in the Holocaust.

“There are a very, very small number of people in the Labour Party that have been sanctioned as a result of complaints about their anti-Semitic behaviour,” Mr Corbyn said.

“As far as I’m concerned one is one too many and I’ve ensured action (has been) taken on that.”

But during the interview with Neil, Mr Corbyn refused four times to apologise to British Jews, instead saying he wanted to ensure “our society will be safe for people of all faiths”.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said that the refusal to apologise was shameful.

The ongoing questions about anti-Semitism have damaged traditionally strong ties between Britain’s Jews and the Labour Party, prompting many members to quit the party in disgust.

Anti-Semitism is cited as one of the main reasons by many people as to why they won’t vote for Labour in the December 12 general election.

The rabbi’s broadside represented a break from his traditional position of not commenting on party politics.

In his article for The Times, Rabbi Mirvis says that British Jews are gripped by an understandable and justified anxiety. He writes: “How complicit in prejudice would a leader of Her Majesty’s opposition have to be to be considered unfit for office? Would associations with those who have incited hatred against Jews be enough? Would describing as ‘friends’ those who endorse the murder of Jews be enough? It seems not.

“It is not my place to tell any person how they should vote. I regret being in this situation at all. I simply pose the question: What will the result of this election say about the moral compass of our country? When December 12 arrives, I ask every person to vote with their conscience. Be in no doubt, the very soul of our nation is at stake.”

Rabbi Mirvis, who is the spiritual leader of the UK’s 62 orthodox synagogues, has previously criticised Labour over antisemitism, saying in January that he was “still waiting” for the issue to be taken seriously by the party. His latest comments, however, go much further and come at a critical time in the election campaign.

Though Mr Corbyn, 70, has been repeatedly criticised for tolerating anti-Jewish comments from party members, he’s not faced anything quite so acute from someone in the Jewish community’s hierarchy.

At a campaign event earlier, Mr Corbyn sought to allay concerns by insisting that if he becomes prime minister, he wants to lead a government that has an “open door” to all faith leaders.

He said he would invite Rabbi Mirvis and other religious leaders “to come talk to us about what their concerns are” and said no community would feel at risk because of their faith.

Mr Corbyn has long been a champion of Palestinian rights and critical of the Israeli government. He has at times appeared to be sympathetic to the grievances of groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

The rabbi’s damaging column was published on the day Labour was launching its “race and faith” platform as part of its campaign to win voters with its views on tolerance and equality.

AP