Jeremy Corbyn has apologised for the hurt inflicted on Jewish people by the Labour antisemitism row as he vowed to speed up scores of disciplinary cases.

In a video message released on social media, the Labour leader said that working with the Jewish population to rebuild trust was a “vital priority” as Jewish groups responded angrily to his earlier attempts to defuse the row.

“I am sorry for the hurt that has been caused to many Jewish people. We have been too slow in processing disciplinary cases of, mostly, online antisemitic abuse by party members. We are acting to speed this process up,” he said.



“Our party must never be a home for such people and never will be. People who use antisemitic poison need to understand: you do not do it in my name or the name of my party. You are not our supporters. And anyone who denies that this has surfaced within our party is clearly actually wrong and contributing to the problem.”

Jewish groups, however, accused Corbyn of lecturing them on the issue and being ideologically hostile to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

The party’s failure to adopt all 11 examples in the IHRA code is now at the heart of its dispute with the Jewish community, which has repeatedly said it requires action rather than just more words.

Labour is now reconsulting on its original decision. There were suggestions on Sunday night that Corbyn could be prepared to fully adopt three of the four outstanding examples, accepting that it was not enough simply to capture their essence.

However, it remained unclear whether he would adopt the final example of antisemitism as well – the claim that Israel is a racist endeavour – meaning Labour’s actions would still fall short of community leaders’ demands.

Writing for the Guardian, Dave Rich, director of policy at the Community Security Trust, said: “His solution is to redefine antisemitism and circumvent Labour’s rules so that they can’t be used against his own supporters, or even against himself, allowing people making antisemitic statements to simply apologise for causing offence and thereby avoid any punishment.”

In a hard-hitting article for the New Statesman, Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Jonathan Goldstein, chair of the Jewish Leadership Council, wrote: “Let us be clear, it is not words but only actions that have ever mattered.”

They added: “Until Corbyn can honestly and fully own up to the problematic nature of some of his own past actions, he will struggle to lead the cultural change that is needed to clear the decks of a loud minority within Labour who behave in this way.

“At the moment, a continuing refusal to do what is necessary just proves how badly Jeremy Corbyn is failing to tackle the world’s longest hate. He should remember that inaction in the face of racism is complicity.”

Earlier, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council had criticised the Labour leader’s “ill-timed and ill-conceived” article for the Guardian published on Saturday, the sabbath and therefore traditionally a day of rest.

In his piece, Corbyn had acknowledged that the party had “a real problem” in regards to antisemitism and accepted that its incomplete adoption of the IHRA definition had caused genuine worries.

But he said he felt confident that outstanding issues over the definition could be resolved, as he finally spoke out on the issue after a week of difficult headlines and virtual silence from the party’s frontbench.



A joint statement from Jewish groups late on Saturday night said that since they had met with Corbyn in April to discuss their concerns, the vilification of the community had got worse. A spokesman added: “Whether you call this antisemitic or not, the end result is the same: Jews and those who support them are being purged out of the party.”

Jeremy Corbyn needs to do much better to convince Jews he acts in good faith | Dave Rich Read more

In his piece for the Guardian, Corbyn acknowledged some of the fiercest criticisms of his leadership on the issue, saying Labour must show more empathy, should have reacted more quickly to cases of abuse and should have done more to consult the Jewish population.

But he strongly rejected the idea that Labour posed any threat to the Jewish people in the UK, describing as “overheated rhetoric” the argument made by three Jewish newspapers in unprecedented joint front-page editorials that a government run by him would pose an existential threat.

Divisions in Labour ranks over antisemitism were laid bare after the deputy leader of the party, Tom Watson, was targeted by Corbyn supporters who demanded on social media that he resign.

The online campaign came after the MP warned that the party would “disappear into a vortex of eternal shame and embarrassment” and render itself unfit for government unless it called a halt to damaging arguments over antisemitism. He said the party should immediately adopt all the IHRA definitions examples.

He tweeted: “It sometimes feels like people have been calling for me to stand down from day one but I never, ever thought I’d be facing demands to #resignwatson for standing up for people who are facing prejudice and hate.”

Labour MP Luciana Berger told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour: “We are looking for action - what is the leadership of the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn actually going to do?

“If you listen very closely to the words in the video and read the piece that was released on Friday evening there isn’t anything different that the Labour party, at the moment, is going to do to ameliorate what is a very, very, very serious situation.”