Friday, 15 March, 2002, 12:21 GMT
UK MP calls Israel 'pariah'


Events in Israel made Gerald Kaufman speak out

Israel has turned into a "pariah state" under prime minister Ariel Sharon and
his ways of dealing with terrorism are "unacceptable", Jewish senior Labour MP
Gerald Kaufman has claimed.
The former minister said he was saddened by the way the image of Israel had
changed from "beacon" status to being portrayed by photographs of its
soldiers "smirking over the corpse of a Palestinian they had just killed".

Mr Kaufman, MP for Manchester Gorton, accused former Labour prime minister
Shimon Peres, now Israel's foreign minister, of "humiliating" himself by being
involved in Sharon's government.

"What the Israeli Labour Party, with its fine traditions, is doing associating
with this right-wing thug, I cannot begin to imagine."
What is going on in that country is something that no decent person can condone

Mr Kaufman said a whole series of events had made him to vent his fury,
including "the photograph a few weeks ago of one Israeli soldier photographing
two others smirking over the corpse of a Palestinian they had just killed".

"This is not what Israel is all about and I am sad about it because Israel was
founded in idealism.

"Obviously idealism has got to face up to reality - but the attitude of this
Israeli Government in dealing what is undoubtedly horrible terrorism is not
only unacceptable in humanitarian terms, but is also seriously unsuccessful in
dealing with the terrorism," he told the BBC's Today programme.

"Four times as many Israelis have been killed by terrorists since Sharon became
prime minister."

Mr Kaufman - who has written a book about Israel, called To Build the Promised
Land - said it used to be a "beacon of how you build a country".

"Today, I am very sorry to say, it is turning itself into a pariah state with
very few countries in the world willing to be its friend."

Mr Kaufman disagreed with the Britain's chief rabbi, Dr Jonathon Sachs, who
reportedly said criticism of the Israeli Government could be anti-Semitic.

"It is quite easy to excuse attacks on the Israelis, or rather to explain them
away, by saying this is anti-Semitism," Mr Kaufman said.

"I am the last person in the world to be anti-Semitic.

"In my time I have faced anti-Semitism, but I am pro-Israel.

"I am obviously pro-Jew - but what is going on in that country is something
that no decent person can condone in terms of the policy of the government.

"I fear I have not had any contacts with the Israeli Government for quite some
time.

"The people in government with whom I could talk like Shimon Peres, a great
seeker after peace, a great Labour prime minister, have humiliated themselves
by involving themselves in this government," Mr Kaufman concluded.

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