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JEREMY Corbyn's spin chief has been accused of peddling an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that Israel is in league with ISIS.

Seumas Milne told a conference that the relationship between the Jewish state and the terrorist group was “very interesting”.

 Jeremy Corbyn's spin chief hinted at a relationship between Israel and Isis
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Jeremy Corbyn's spin chief hinted at a relationship between Israel and IsisCredit: London News Pictures

He also claimed that another jihadist organisation was based right next to the Israeli border but that its troops ignored them.

Mr Milne was speaking at an event attended by Mr Corbyn himself – just months before he was elected Labour leader.

It prompted fresh warnings that the hard-left strategist could soon be in Downing Street if Labour wins the next election.

But Labour sources said he wasn't suggesting any collusion.

In a fierce attack on his own party’s communications director, Labour MP Wes Streeting wrote on Twitter: “Crackpot conspiracy theorists who peddle rubbish about links between Israel and ISIS are best confined to the internet. They have no place in parties that aspire to govern. End of.”

One of the Home Secretary’s special advisers, Samuel Coates, wrote: “We shouldn’t get used to this from senior advisers/leaders. This is a line that anti-Semitic extremists in the Middle East used to put about.”

Leading human rights barrister Adam Wagner said: “The ‘Israel and ISIS are in cahoots’ conspiracy theory is a common one on anti-Semitic Facebook pages.”

He pointed out that just last month a Labour councillor was suspended for sharing a Twitter post claiming that Israel backs Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Former Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop called Milne an “anti-Labour aristo-Stalinist conspiracy theorist” who had “hijacked the party” with his “hard-left mates”.

Mr Milne, who was educated at Winchester and Oxford, made the controversial comments at a Stop The War Coalition conference in June 2015, in a video uncovered by investigative journalist Iggy Ostanin.

Answering questions during a panel discussion, Mr Milne said: “One of our friends from Egypt raised the situation about the ISIS franchise and its relationship to Israel. I think that’s a very interesting phenomenon myself.

 Jeremy Corbyn attended the event too
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Jeremy Corbyn attended the event tooCredit: Reuters

He added: “At the moment we have, on the effective Israeli border, the ceasefire zone in the Golan heights, one of the most sectarian Jihadist groups, the al-Qaeda franchise, Jabhat al-Nusra, which is actually on the border with the Israeli troops.

“Nothing happens. It’s interesting, the Israelis don’t seem too bothered about it. So I think the role these groups are playing in the region is sometimes illuminated by that kind of fact, who their real enemies are.”

A Labour source said this evening:

"The claim that Seumas was suggesting collusion between Israel and ISIS is false.

"He was highlighting the real priorities of sectarian jihadist groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and the imperial divide and rule tactics used by the US and its allies in the Middle East."


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