Let's blame Ed for Jews' drift the right


April 10, 2015
Sarah Benton

In addition to the photo caption, there are two extracts from speeches/ statements made by Ed Miliband on Israel and on the attack on Gaza. There are two short extracts quoting David Cameron’s condemnation of the ID’s attack on a UN school.

Then there is Marcus Dysch’s ‘Blame toxic Ed for Labour’s loss of support’ and a report of the Jewish Chronicle’s poll showing, to the surprise of no-one, that most British Jews are Conservative.

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In his speech to the Labour Friends of Israel Annual Lunch in November 2011 [above], Ed Miliband ‘spoke extremely warmly about Israel and LFI, stating: “I want to say very clearly I’m grateful to Israel, I respect Israel, I admire Israel and that is why I’m proud to be here to be part of Labour Friends of Israel.” He added that Israel is “a democracy in a region where autocracy is commonplace, and it is important to say that.” Beginning by setting out his personal and family connections with Israel, the Leader of the Labour Party said:
“The thing I feel overwhelmingly about the State of Israel is that out of the darkness of the war and the Holocaust it gave light to my family. And I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the State of Israel and what it has achieved, and I wanted to make that clear.” ‘

What DID Ed Miliband say about Gaza, Israel, Palestinians?

This is the relevant extract from Ed Miliband’s speech to the National Policy Forum
July 19th, 2014

I also want to say something about the unfolding events in Gaza.

We are all shocked and horrified by the escalation of violence following the horrific abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers and subsequently a Palestinian.

I have seen for myself the fear in Israel from the unjustified and appalling rocket attacks launched by Hamas from Gaza.

I defend Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks.

But I cannot explain, justify or defend the horrifying deaths of hundreds of Palestinians, including children and innocent civilians.

And as a party we oppose the further escalation of violence we have seen with Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

Because we have been here before and we know what happens next.

More loss of life, more Palestinian suffering, more hatred and more recruits to the ranks of terrorist groups like Hamas.

This escalation will serve no lasting purpose and will do nothing to win Israel friends.

There can be no military solution to this conflict.

The only solution is two states living alongside each other in peace and security.

So the violence must stop.

And a political way forward must be found.

And I promise you Labour will always play its part in seeking to make that happen.

Because there can be neither security for Israel nor dignity for the Palestinian people without it.


Ed Miliband accuses David Cameron of ‘inexplicable silence’ in row over Gaza

Statement by Ed Miliband on Israel/Hamas

Guardian, August 2nd, 2014

EXTRACT

“With the breakdown of Friday’s ceasefire and the prospects of peace seemingly distant, it is now more important than ever that the international community acts to get the two sides to agree to a renewed ceasefire, and thereafter to reestablish meaningful negotiations to achieve a two-state solution.

“David Cameron should be playing a leading role in these efforts to secure peace. He is right to say that Hamas is an appalling, terrorist organisation. Its wholly unjustified rocket attacks on Israeli citizens, as well as the building of tunnels for terrorist purposes, show the organisation’s murderous intent and practice towards Israel and its citizens.

“But the prime minister is wrong not to have opposed Israel’s incursion into Gaza. And his silence on the killing of hundreds of innocent Palestinian civilians caused by Israel’s military action will be inexplicable to people across Britain and internationally.”

A Downing Street spokesman said in response: “The PM has been clear that both sides in the Gaza conflict need to observe a ceasefire.

“We are shocked that Ed Miliband would seek to misrepresent that position and play politics with such a serious issue.”

In his statement, Miliband said that while he was a supporter of Israel and believed in its right to self-defence its military actions in the last fortnight had been “wrong and unjustifiable”.

He said: “The escalation of violence engulfing Gaza has led, and is leading, to suffering and destruction on an appalling scale, and is losing Israel friends in the international community day by day.

“Israel’s present military action will increase the future threats to its security rather than countering them. Israelis rightly and justifiably want that security, yet their government’s present actions instead risk simply a growing a new generation bent on revenge.” …..


International condemnation of Israel grows: ‘Appalled’ US and David Cameron condemn Gaza school air strikes and France decries the ‘slaughter of civilians’

Daily Mail, August 4th, 2014

International outrage over Israel’s bombardment of Gaza continued to grow today as the world reeled from news that a third deadly attack on a UN school sheltering fleeing Palestinians killed ten yesterday, including children.

The U.S. State Department was first to condemn the bombing, on the compound in the southern town of Rafah that was sheltering 3,000 Palestinian refugees, as ‘appalling’ and ‘disgraceful’ as it pleaded with Israel to take more care to avoid civilian casualties.
Hours later, David Cameron joined the chorus of disapproval with his own message to Tel Aviv in which he backed UN chief Ban Ki-moon’s condemnation of the attack as ‘a moral outrage’, but stopped short of agreeing that it was a ‘criminal act’.

UN was right to speak out on the Gaza crisis, says UK Prime Minister

RT, August 4th, 2014

David Cameron has endorsed the United Nation’s recent criticism of an IDF attack on a UN-run school in Gaza, which culminated in ten casualties. UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, condemned the assault as a “moral outrage” and “criminal act”.

Cameron failed to indicate if he wholly agreed with Ban Ki-moon’s condemnation of Israel’s recent strike, however, merely emphasizing that the event had brought about“an appalling loss of life,” and civilians should not be targets.

Reflecting on the IDF’s destruction of the school, the PM defended the UK government’s position on the Gaza crisis, stating the coalition had clearly called for “an immediate, comprehensive, humanitarian ceasefire.”

“We want this conflict to stop – and we obviously think that it’s an appalling loss of life,” Cameron said in an interview with the BBC. He added that the “fastest way to stop this conflict” would be if Hamas ceased firing rockets at Israel.

In response to Ban’s statement that the IDF’s strike was a “moral outrage,” Cameron backed the UN chief’s decision to speak out against the IDF’s actions, but was unwilling to directly confirm whether he believed the Israeli military had broken International Law.


Blame toxic Ed for Labour’s loss of support

By Marcus Dysch, Jewish Chronicle
April 07, 2015

Even though, anecdotally, Ed Miliband’s unpopularity with the Jewish community has long been the received wisdom, these figures are jaw-dropping.

Few would have predicted that his personal polling would be quite so disastrous. How, after all, could a Jewish politician make such a terrible fist of attracting Jewish voters?

A combination of issues are to blame – most obviously positioning himself as Israel’s chief political critic during last summer’s Gaza conflict and then backing unilateral Palestinian statehood.

Both may have been popular among some Labour supporters and MPs, but they have holed Mr Miliband’s relationship with the Jewish community beneath the waterline.

His Jewish supporters regularly cite his trip to Israel last Pesach as a high point of his leadership. As this poll shows, its benefits were clearly undone by what followed.

Why, one has to wonder, having observed David Cameron’s love-bombing of British Jewry for the past two years, did Labour not bother at any point to respond in its own way? There are more than enough Israel-supporters in Mr Miliband’s shadow cabinet to have made an impact.

Instead Downing Street has been given a more or less free hand to make the running. Mr Cameron’s speeches to the Holocaust Educational Trust, UJIA, Norwood, Community Security Trust and Conservative Friends of Israel – backed up by policies to support British Jews and Shoah survivors – may not be bettered for a generation. His own trip to Israel and landmark address at the Knesset were the icing on the cake.

Our poll also shows that observers have been right to ask in recent years whether British Jews will ever again vote Lib Dem in serious numbers. Why did Nick Clegg and party leaders not act more decisively against David Ward?

The efforts of senior Lib Dems to enforce an arms embargo on Israel last summer at the height of the conflict will also be long-remembered. Attracting just two per cent of Jewish voters next month would leave the party as also-rans in the community’s eyes – even if Mr Clegg finds a way back into coalition government.

It also rubbishes the suggestion that Ukip has any groundswell of support within the community.

But it is for Labour and Ed Miliband that this poll is so overwhelmingly damning. Clearly British Jews see both the party and its leader as toxic on issues concerning the Middle East and the Jewish community. The days when Tony Blair’s departure from Downing Street was hastened by his defence of Israel during the Lebanon War feel long ago.

Our community is sufficiently small that little of this will make much difference in the final reckoning. The Jewish electorate will not decide who is Prime Minister after May 7, but this poll does go some way to suggesting what might happen in a number of constituencies that would be essential for a Labour victory.

Replicated on polling day, these levels of support could be decisive in Tory-held marginal seats such as Hendon, Finchley and Golders Green and Ilford North – all of which Labour must win. But they could even call into question Labour-held seats such as Bury South and Leeds North East.

There are few silver linings for Jewish Labour supporters. Even if Mr Miliband makes it into Downing Street a month from now, what would his working relationship with the community look like?

It is that prospect which will be of concern to so many people – including politicians, communal leaders and, of course, voters.


Marcus Dysch


Huge majority of British Jews will vote Tory, JC poll reveals

By Marcus Dysch, Jewish Chronicle
April 07, 2015

British Jews will vote overwhelmingly for the Conservatives, an exclusive JC poll has revealed.

Asked who they would support in next month’s general election, 69 per cent of Jewish voters said they would support the Tories. Only 22 per cent said they would vote Labour.

David Cameron enjoys substantial personal support among the community. He was said to have the best attitude towards British Jewry by 64 per cent of people. Labour leader Ed Miliband was seen as the best supporter of the community by only 13 per cent.

Other parties including the Liberal Democrats and Ukip barely registered any support. Two per cent said they would support the Lib Dems, slightly ahead of those planning to vote for Ukip.

Cameron was said to have the best attitude towards British Jewry by 64 per cent of people
In the election campaign’s second week, the only accurate polling of the voting intentions of the Jewish community showed Israel and the Middle East would feature highly at the ballot box.

Around 73 per cent of Jews said the political parties’ attitudes to Israel were “very” or “quite” important in influencing how they would vote.

The polling revealed that Mr Miliband’s approach to Israel and the Middle East is seen as toxic within the Jewish community. Just 10 per cent of people said he had the best approach, compared to 65 per cent who favoured Mr Cameron’s stance.

The Labour party itself fared worse than its leader, with its Israel policy attracting only eight per cent of Jewish voters. The Tory approach was preferred by 61 per cent.

The Lib Dems fared poorly across all the questions. The figures show the party’s support within the community has dropped substantially since 2010, when it attracted six per cent of Jewish voters. Only one per cent believe Nick Clegg and his colleagues know what is best for Israel.

Ukip’s apparent positioning as a pro-Israel party was backed by less than one per cent of Jews on the issue.

Further questions revealed that 78 per cent of British Jews plan to vote on May 7, suggesting the community is more politically engaged than the public generally, and more than other minority groups.

Manchester Jews were slightly more likely to vote Labour than those in London, yet those in the north found Mr Miliband, and his party’s Israel policy, less attractive.

The poll was carried out for the JC by Survation, which questioned a representative sample of more than 560 British Jews over the past week.


Notes and links

The survey was commissioned by Jewish Chronicle and carried out by Survation where you can read all the questions and responses.

The survey interviewed 566 people by phone. In the weighted total of 441 people who intended to vote Cons, Lab or Other, the respective percentages were 69%, 22.2% and 8.84%, far more right-wing that the population in general. (The remaining 125 (22.5%) respondents either intended not to vote or were undecided.)

But how far attitudes to Israel determine voting intention is not clear. 51% of the Conservatives said it was very important, the only political group in which more than half thought “parties’ attitudes towards Israel” was “Very important” in influencing how they would vote. It is not clear because the turn to the right among British Jews has been going on for some time – long before Ed Miliband became Labour Party leader.

Out of a total of 443, 15.1% were aged 18-34, 25% were aged 35-54 and 59.8% were aged over 54.

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