Netanyahu to discuss antisemitism with May in meeting today

Tamara Zieve, jpost.com

May/Netanyahu image from

Excerpt:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to discuss the issue of soaring antisemitism in the UK with his British counterpart, Theresa May, during a meeting in London on Monday, according to coalition chairman David Bitan (Likud). ...

The meeting comes days after the release of an annual report by the Community Security Trust, which found that more antisemitic incidents were recorded in the United Kingdom in 2016 than ever before.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post on the sidelines of the conference, Bitan said the increased level of antisemitism was a by-product of anti-immigrant sentiment pervading Europe and other countries around the world.

“This hate also impacts the Jews,” he said. “The problem with the Jews is that it doesn’t matter how long they have been in a country – when there is resistance to foreigners it reaches the Jews too.”

Bitan had addressed this subject in his opening remarks to conference participants, saying: “We need, in true hasbara [public diplomacy], to differentiate between the Jews who have lived in the same place for many years, and those who have just arrived as foreigners and refugees.”

Saying that xenophobia rises in correlation with the strengthening of the Right, he opined that when the anti-migrants sentiment passes, so too will antisemitism. ...