Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis on Monday called Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn unfit to be prime minister for failing to remove anti-Semitism from his party.
Why it matters: Such interventions from religious leaders are unusual, according to Reuters. Mirvis's opinion article in The Times of London came just weeks before the Dec. 12 general elections.
What they're saying: “It is a failure of leadership. A new poison – sanctioned from the top – has taken root in the Labour Party,” Mirvis wrote. “Be in no doubt, the very soul of our nation is at stake.”
- A Labour spokesman said Corbyn has campaigned against anti-Semitism and that “a Labour government will guarantee the security of the Jewish community, defend and support the Jewish way of life, and combat rising anti-Semitism in our country and across Europe," according to Reuters.
- Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, backed Mirvis's comments, saying they indicated the fears of many Jews, The Guardian reports.
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