Jeremy Corbyn questions Israel’s ‘right to exist’ in resurfaced interview

A 2011 interview with the Labour leader has resurfaced as the party faces an anti-Semitism row.

A clip of an interview Jeremy Corbyn gave to an Iranian television service has resurfaced after the Labour leader was accused of allowing the party to become ‘riddled’ with anti-Semitism.

In a 2011 documentary examining allegations of BBC bias towards Israel for Press TV, Mr Corbyn – then a Labour backbench MP – appeared to question whether ‘Israel has a right to exist’.

The clip began circulating on social media today amid mounting criticism aimed at Mr Corbyn after he failed to apologise for anti-Semitism in an interview with the BBC this week.

In it, he said: ‘There is pressure on the BBC from the Israeli government and the Israeli embassy, they are very assertive towards all journalists and the BBC itself.

‘They challenge every single thing on reporting the whole time.

‘I think there is a bias towards saying that Israel is a democracy in the middle east, Israel has a right to exist, Israel has its security concerns.’

He also accused then director general of the BBC, Mark Thompson, of having ‘an agenda in this respect’.

The Iranian state-owned Press TV service was taken off the air in Britain in 2012 after its licence was revoked by the broadcasting regulator Ofcom after it showed a clip of an apparent confession by documentary-maker Maziar Bahari in Tehran, which he claimed was obtained via torture.

The documentary was looking into the BBC after it was condemned for its decision not to broadcast a charity appeal from Gaza.

In 2009, both the BBC and Sky chose not to broadcast the appeal, prompting angry protests and 40,000 complaints.

Politicians, religious leaders and senior members of BBC staff at the time condemned the decision.

Mr Corbyn has insisted there is no place in Labour for antisemitism after a scathing attack by Britain’s chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.

He accused Mr Corbyn of allowing a ‘poison sanctioned from the top’ to take root in Labour.

At the launch of Labour’s race and faith manifesto in Tottenham, north London, Mr Corbyn attempted to fight back, saying his party was tackling the problem.

He said: ‘Anti-semitism in any form is vile and wrong.’