Jewish donors leaving Britain’s Labor Party over Miliband’s anti-Israel stance

Jewish donors and supporters are deserting Britain’s Labor party over party leader Ed Miliband’s anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian stance.

Miliband has been warned of the loss of Jewish support, the U.K. Independent reported Sunday.

Miliband, the son of Holocaust refugees, last month ordered all party lawmakers to vote in favor of a nonbinding motion to recognize the state of Palestine.

The party reportedly also is having problem raising funds for next year’s elections.

Donations from the Jewish community in the past have been worth hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to the Labor Party, according to the newspaper, which reported that several previous supporters said that they and others are now very unlikely to support the party.

Last week, popular British actress Maureen Lipman announced that she would stop supporting the party after 50 years.

Miliband publicly and strongly criticized Israel for its 50-day operation in Gaza last summer.