Jeremy Corbyn, who heads the British Labour party has been accused by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis who is the chief Rabbi in United Kingdom of sanctioned anti-Semitism. Rabbi Mirvis accused Corbyn for allowing a “poison sanctioned from the top” to take root in the Labour party, reports The Guardian.

Ephraim Mirvis is the spiritual leader of the UK’s 62 orthodox synagogues said, “Jews are justifiably anxious about the prospect of a Corbyn government.”

Rabbi Mirvis in a rare comment on politics said the “soul of the nation is at stake” as UK heads for polls on 12 December and it is not his place to tell people which party they should vote.

However he felt the Labour leadership had poorly dealt with anti-Jewish racism which was “Incompatible with the British values of which we are so proud – of dignity and respect for all people”.

However Labour has come to a very strong defence of Corbyn and denied he has failed to get to grips with allegations of anti-Semitism.

A Labour party spokesman said Corbyn was a “lifelong campaigner against antisemitism and has made absolutely clear it has no place in our party and society and that no one who engages in it does so in his name”.

The Labour party said “Antisemitism complaints account for about 0.1 per cent of the Labour party membership, while antisemitism is more prevalent among Conservative than Labour supporters.”

Also joining the chorus to speak against Corbyn and the Labour party was the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby who has endorsed chief rabbi’s comments on the Labour leadership’s record on antisemitism and with a tweet highlighting the “deep sense of insecurity and fear felt by many British Jews”.

Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis

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