Mike Pompeo
Mike PompeoReuters

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently promised a group of Jewish leaders in New York that the Trump administration would make efforts to protect British Jews if Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn is elected Prime Minister, The Washington Post reported over the weekend.

The Post obtained audio recordings of the closed-door meeting between Pompeo and Jewish leaders last week, which touched on concerns over the possibility that British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn could be elected Prime Minister, following Theresa May’s decision to step down as leader of the Conservative party and the collapse of the Conservative party in recent polls.

During the meeting, Jewish leaders asked Pompeo what the administration would do if Corbyn were to become premier. If he “is elected,” the leaders asked, “would you be willing to work with us to take on actions if life becomes very difficult for Jews in the UK?”

Pompeo responded by affirming that the administration would “push back” against any attempts by Corbyn to make life difficult for the British Jewish community, adding that the Trump administration would not “wait for” Corbyn to take action against UK Jews.

“It could be that Mr. Corbyn manages to run the gantlet and get elected. It’s possible. You should know, we won’t wait for him to do those things to begin to push back. We will do our level best,” Pompeo said. “It’s too risky and too important and too hard once it’s already happened.”

A Labour party official responded to Pompeo’s comments, telling the Post that the party was “fully committed to the support, defense, and celebration of the Jewish community,” and accusing the Trump administration of attempting to “decide who will be Britain’s next Prime Minister.”

While the UK is not scheduled to hold another general election until May 2022 (the last election was in 2017), incumbent PM Theresa May’s decision to step down and hand over control of the party – and the government has raised the possibility of snap elections. Should her successor fail to lead the UK to a successful Brexit from the European Union, the government could be dissolved, forcing early elections.

Polls show the Conservative party, which retained a plurality in Parliament in 2017 even as it lost its majority, falling to its lowest level ever, with the newly-formed Brexit party of ex-UKIP chairman Nigel Farage siphoning off traditional Tory voters.

A new BMG poll conducted for The Independent shows Labour narrowly defeating the Conservatives, 27% to 26%, with the Brexit party coming in third with 18%.

The possibility of a Corbyn government has been a serious concern for many Jews in the UK, with a June 2018 poll showing a whopping 86% of British Jews saying they believe Corbyn is anti-Semitic, and 38.6% saying they would seriously consider emigrating if Corbyn were ever elected premier.

In recent years, the British Labour party has come under fire for its failure to confront anti-Semitism among party members. Corbyn, who took control of the party in 2015, has been criticized for his ties to anti-Israel terror groups and a string of incidents relating not only Israel but the legacy of the Holocaust and the local Jewish community.

Last year, the Daily Mail recently published photos of the Labour leader at a cemetery in Tunisia holding a wreath near the graves of some of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorists who were responsible for the massacre of the 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Days later, a picture emerged of Corbyn apparently making a salute linked to the Muslim Brotherhood organization.

That week, the Times of Londonpublished a picture of Corbyn meeting with the leader-in-exile of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization, only weeks before its members carried out an attack on a Jerusalem synagogue in which six people were murdered.

Later, it was revealed that Corbyn attended a conference with a convicted Hamas leader who was jailed in Israel for his role in orchestrating a string of terrorist attacks that killed more than 100 people between 2001 and 2002.

Last week, the Daily Mailexposed remarks made by Corbyn in 2010 in which he hinted that Israeli officials were controlling the speeches made by British MPs.

Moreover, dozens of Labour members have been suspended over their anti-Semitic statements in recent years, and the party has been criticized for its failure to deal with the anti-Semitism within it.

Corbyn has also come under fire for an attempt in 2011 to replace Holocaust Memorial Day with the general “Genocide Memorial Day – Never Again For Anyone”.