Gerald Kaufman has died, his attitude to Israel was well known so Jeremy Corbyn's comments are revealing (part 1)

This is Jeremy Corbyn's statement following the death of Labour MP Gerald Kaufman:

“I’m very sad at the passing of Sir Gerald Kaufman MP. An iconic and irascible figure in the Labour Party, Gerald worked with Harold Wilson when he was Prime Minister in the 1960s and became a Labour MP in 1970. Gerald was always a prominent figure in the party and in Parliament, with his dandy clothes and wonderful demeanour in speaking. Gerald came from a proud Jewish background. He always wanted to bring peace to the Middle East and it was my pleasure to travel with him to many countries. I last saw him in his lovely flat in St John’s Wood in London, surrounded by film posters and a library of the film world. He loved life and politics. I will deeply miss him, both for his political commitment and constant friendship.”

"Always wanted to bring peace to the Middle East", well that's one way of looking at it.

Even the rabidly institutionally anti-Israel BBC recognise where Gerald Kaufman stood on Israel, on its throat:

'A practising Jew, he was best known for his fierce opposition to the policies of the Israeli government and its treatment of the Palestinians.

...

Kaufman's most vocal attacks were reserved for Israel and its policies towards the Palestinians. A member of the Jewish Labour Movement, he called for economic sanctions against Israel and a ban on sales of arms.

In 2002 he broke a longstanding pledge never to visit Israel when he went there to make a BBC documentary called The End of An Affair, which charted his early infatuation with the Jewish state as a young student and how he later became disillusioned.

He launched a bitter attack on the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon. "It is time to remind Sharon," he said, "that the Star of David belongs to all Jews, not to his repulsive government."

He often compared Israel's treatment of the Palestinians with South African apartheid and, described Israel's use of white phosphorus flares in the 2009 offensive in Gaza as "war crimes".

"I long ago gave up hope for the Israelis participating in a negotiated solution," he said in 2014.'

 Of course for the BBC these are views that they would also hold and espouse.

The BBC always willing to get some anti-Israel views into an article.