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Last update - 01:02 06/03/2005
Israeli envoy slams London mayor for inflaming `prejudice'
By Peter Hirschberg

Israel's ambassador to Britain hit back Friday at Ken Livingstone, accusing the London mayor of trying to "divert attention" from the public criticism he has faced over the last few months and of inflaming "prejudice and hatred" between Israelis and Palestinians.
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The comments came after Livingstone, in an opinion piece in The Guardian daily on Friday, called Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a war criminal and accused Israel of ethnic cleansing.

"It is obvious and unfortunate that the mayor is trying to manipulate public opinion and divert attention from the overwhelming criticism he has faced over the last few months," Ambassador Zvi Heifetz said.

Livingstone's latest remarks - he also accused Israel of presenting a "distorted" picture of anti-Semitism in Europe - come less than a month after he ignited a major furor in London by likening a Jewish reporter to a "concentration camp guard."

Sharon, the ambassador added, was being "commended by all, including Arab leaders, for his courageous actions toward peace. The mayor's defamatory views inflame prejudice and hatred between Israelis and Palestinians and serve only his private political agenda."

Writing in the opinion piece, Livingstone said: "Ariel Sharon ... is a war criminal who should be in prison, not in office." He then referred to Sharon's involvement in the 1982 massacres in Lebanon's Sabra and Chatila refugee camps.

Livingstone also said the Israeli government was promoting a distorted picture of racism and religious discrimination in Europe by implying that the biggest upsurge of hatred targeted Jews.

"The mayor feels the need to emphasize that he's not an anti-Semite, but `only' anti-Israeli," Heifetz said. "To support this distinction he launched a virulent attack against Israel. We trust the public to know better and to see what stands behind his strategy."
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