
The new leader of the British Labor party, Jeremy Corbyn, is saying that he has some Jewish ancestry, the Jewish Chronicle reports.
Speaking in an interview with the Church Times, Corbyn revealed that there was a “Jewish element” in the family.
His mother Naomi was a Bible-reading agnostic “brought up in a religious environment and her brother was a vicar, and there was quite a lot of clergy in her family,” he said, according to the Chronicle.
“Going back a lot further, there is a Jewish element in the family, probably from Germany,” added Corbyn, who said his father was a church-going Christian added that he himself was “not anti-religious at all” and probably went to more religious services than most strong believers.
“I go to churches, I go to mosques, I go to synagogues,” he said. “I find the power of faith very interesting.
“I have friends who are very strongly atheist and wouldn’t have anything to do with any faith; but I take a much more relaxed view of it. I think the faith community offers and does a great deal for people,” added Corbyn.
Corbyn, who was elected Labor leader a week ago, has stirred up some controversy as he infamously called Hamas and Hezbollah as his "friends".
In the days before the vote he also received an endorsement from Hamas, with the terrorist group hailing him for his "sympathetic" stance towards them.
Corbyn's election as head of Britain's opposition was a cause of concern for many British Jews, the majority of whom have voiced deep concern over his disturbing links to a wide range of extremists, spanning far-right holocaust deniers, an anti-Semitic Christian minister and Islamist terrorist groups.
Those links - as well as his highly controversial leftist economic policies - have drawn criticism from the British Jewish community and senior party figures alike.
British Prime Minister David Cameron warned that Corbyn is a "threat to national security" and would undermine the UK's defenses.
“The Labor Party is now a threat to our national security, our economic security and your family's security,” he said.
"Whether it's weakening our defenses, raising taxes on jobs and earnings, racking up more debt and welfare or driving up the cost of living by printing money – Jeremy Corbyn's Labor Party will hurt working people,” warned Cameron.