Nigel Farage Says ‘Jewish Lobby’ Has Disproportionate Influence
Image by Getty
(JTA) — The former leader of a nationalist political party in Britain with close ties to President Donald Trump said that American Jews have a disproportionate influence over politics.
Nigel Farage, the ex-head of the Independence Party and now a talk show host on the LBC radio station, made the remarks Monday on while discussing whether Russian influence had aided Trump’s election in the wake of the first charges being brought against Trump administration officials.
A caller named Ahmed told Farage that he thought the pro-Israel lobby in the United States was as dangerous as alleged Russian interference, leading Farage to respond: “Well, the Israeli lobby, you know, that’s a reasonable point, Ahmed, because there are about 6 million Jewish people living in America, so as a percentage it’s quite small, but in terms of influence it’s quite big.”
He added: “Well, in terms of money and influence, yep, they are a very powerful lobby,” and “there are other very powerful foreign lobbies in the United States of America, and the Jewish lobby, with its links with the Israeli government, is one of those strong voices.”
Several listeners contacted the watchdog group Campaign Against Antisemitism following Farage’s remarks. In a statement on its website, the group called on Farage to “immediately withdraw his deplorable comments” and to apologize for them, or that LBC should remove him from his time slot. The group said it would ask Britain’s communications regulatory office, known as Ofcom, to open an investigation.
Farage, who was a key supporter of Brexit, the British exit from the European Union, resigned as head of the Independence Party in July 2016. The same month he visited the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, where he met with Trump aides. He is reported to have close ties to former White House strategist Stephen Bannon.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
