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<\/a><\/p>\nAndy Burnham, delivers a speech at The People’s Museum. (Jeff J Mitchell\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
His comments prompted a joint response from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council, which said they had contacted his team to express \u201csignificant concerns\u201d about his remarks.<\/p>\n
Burnham made his comments in a video statement on Thursday in response to questions from the public. Burnham is likely to become the next prime minister after gaining the overwhelming support of sitting Labour members of Parliament. To date no one has challenged him for the party\u2019s leadership ahead of a July 17 deadline. <\/p>\n
\u201cI know many people feel that at the start of Israel\u2019s military action in Gaza, my party didn\u2019t get it right, and I am sorry about that,\u201d he said. He added that he supported further sanctions on Israelis involved in the violence in Gaza, measures to ban trade with Israeli settlements and restrictions on arms licenses to Israel, saying there was \u201cincreasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also condemned increased antisemitism in Britain, and said that tackling antisemitism did not contradict holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government to account.<\/p>\n
His comments came as lawmakers across the political spectrum have pushed for increased condemnation of Israel and sanctions on the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unbearable suffering in Gaza is a scar on our collective conscience,\u201d Burnham said. \u201cThe killing of innocent Palestinians, including children,\u201d was \u201ccompletely unacceptable,\u201d he added, declaring that Britain had to do more to \u201cput pressure on the Israeli government.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described the country as \u201ctoo slow to call for a ceasefire\u201d and that \u201cwe must now do more to strengthen our approach\u201d as \u201cIsrael continues to violate the ceasefire agreement killing innocent Palestinians.\u201d <\/p>\n
In their response, the Board and JLC said they shared \u201cconcern for the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip\u201d but stated that the conflict \u201ccannot be understood without reference to the role of Hamas not only in launching the conflict but in perpetuating the war through the holding of hostages, war-fighting entirely from within the civilian population, and [their] ongoing refusal to cede power and disarm, in line with the 20 point peace plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
They added that the conflict also could not be understood without reference to Hamas\u2019 regional backers and allies, including Iran and Hezbollah. Burnham addressed none of this in his comments.<\/p>\n
Burnham did, however, reiterate his condemnation of Hamas, describing the Oct. 7 attacks as \u201cmonstrous,\u201d stressing that he denounced them \u201cas strongly today as I did in the immediate aftermath.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said that he also condemned \u201cthe increase in appalling antisemitic attacks here in the U.K. and those who seek to divide our communities by targeting Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt first-hand the anxiety in our Jewish community and the very real threat they face,\u201d the former mayor of Greater Manchester said, referring to the Yom Kippur 2025 attack on the city\u2019s Heaton Park synagogue in which two people were killed.<\/p>\n
The Board and JLC welcomed Burnham\u2019s \u201czero tolerance approach to antisemitism\u201d and affirmed his assertion that \u201cthere is no contradiction between fighting antisemitism and disagreeing with actions of the Israeli government.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, they said, \u201cAntisemitism cannot be confronted without addressing all its drivers,\u201d arguing that in Britain that includes \u201cIslamist, far left and far right extremists who go beyond criticism of the Israeli government to a place of hatred directed at Jews and Israelis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their joint statement pointed out that Burnham knew \u201cfirst hand the links between hatred of Israel, antisemitic extremism and deadly violence against British Jews,\u201d adding that, \u201cin a country in which antisemitism has become more normalized, more extreme and more violent, we call on our leaders to show the utmost care in their rhetoric in relation to the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n