Jeremy Corbyn faced fresh criticism in the internal row over antisemitism on Saturday after it emerged he turned down an invitation from Labour’s sister party in Israel to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum and will send a party official instead. Corbyn received a furious letter from Isaac Herzog, leader of the Israeli Labour party, in April, after former London mayor Ken Livingstone made some controversial remarks about Hitler and Zionism. After suspending Livingstone from the party, Corbyn was invited by Herzog to Yad Vashem “to witness that the last time the Jews were forcibly transported it was not to Israel but to their deaths”. Joan Ryan MP, chair of Labour Friends of Israel, accused Corbyn of a failure of leadership which would fuel debate about his views on the Middle East.“I’m very disappointed Jeremy turned down the invitation to visit Israel from our sister party. There were further party tensions when Chakrabarti was recommended by Corbyn for a peerage.

Source: The Guardian September 10, 2016 19:41 UTC