Britain's former Labor Party leader Ed Miliband has threatened to sue a local Jewish newspaper in the United Kingdom over claims alleging he launched "a verbal attack" on Israel, according to Haaretz.
According to the Telegraph, Miliband vowed legal action against the Jewish Telegraph should it publish an interview with media mogul Richard Desmond, who says the politician made anti-Israel comments during an interaction between the two half a year ago.
"You should expect legal action and/or a complaint to the press watchdog if you go ahead with publication,” a spokesman for Miliband warned the local paper.
Desmond, one of the right-wing Independence Party's biggest donors ahead of May elections in Britain, asserts Miliband went "berserk" when he mentioned Israel at a chance meeting at Hampstead Heath, in north London.
“I was having a cup of tea when I bumped into Ed and asked him if it was true he had made all these comments about Israel,” Desmond said. Miliband then, Desmond claims, flew into "such a rage. I couldn’t stop him – he was going berserk [about Israel’s actions].”
Despite his Jewish roots, Miliband has been known to be critical of Israel in the past. He condemned the Jewish state during Operation Protecive Edge last summer and has also expressed willingness to recognize "Palestine" should it bring about a peace deal.
Miliban's spokesman, however, called Desmond's account "untrue. There was no rage or row. Ed did not use the language ascribed to him. He expressed views he has expressed in public many times before.”