Labour donor Dale Vince slammed for linking Bondi beach massacre to Israel's actions in Gaza

The green entrepreneur, who has given more than £5 million to Labour, wrote in the aftermath of the murder of 15 people at a Hanukah event in Sydney: "Commenting on the shootings in Australia today Netanyahu said Antisemitism spreads when leaders stay silent.

"Nothing to do with Israel committing Genocide in Palestine then. Netanyahu wants antisemitism to be a thing, it validates him – he acts to make it so."

The comments sparked furious reactions, with the multimillionaire owner of Ecotricity being slammed by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.

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Quoting Vince’s original post, Badenoch wrote on X: “Hours after the biggest massacre of Jews since Oct 7th, the Labour party’s largest donor tweeted ‘Netanyahu wants antisemitism to be a thing’. A morally repugnant statement. Will Keir Starmer condemn his big financial backer? Staying silent implies he sees nothing wrong.”

In a follow-up post, Vince added: "My words on this subject were not intended to excuse or legitimise terrorism, or any form of racism - what happened at Bondi beach is an atrocity.

"My words are aimed at the intervention of Netanyahu who in my opinion overlooks the impacts of his own terrorism. If anti semitism (sic) is rising in the world today then surely on any rational analysis, the biggest single cause of that will be the genocide in Palestine. I condemn all acts of violence and all forms of racism."

A Labour spokesperson said: “We are absolutely clear that the antisemitic terrorist attack against Jewish families at a Hanukah event at Bondi beach is sickening. There can never and should never be any excuses made for barbaric acts of terrorism.

“The Labour government and the whole labour movement stands with the Jewish community in Australia, in the UK, and around the world at this awful time. Both before and since we entered government, Keir Starmer’s Labour party has made tackling antisemitism a key priority and this crucial work will continue so that Jews living at home and abroad can live safely, without fear of violence or prejudice.”

In a final post clarifying his comment, the eco-activist said: "To be clear - Netanyahu blamed Australian government policy for the terror attack at Bondi Beach, I find that outrageous. Australians surely will too.

"I pointed out what I believe to be an obvious and logical thing - it is far more likely that Israeli policy, not Australian policy is the cause. In due course we may find out, as one attacker is in custody. I very much doubt he will cite Australia’s recognition of Palestine as his reason for attacking Jewish people.

"Netanyahu is trying to gaslight us all and tries to use this atrocity to support his arguments. I find that morally repugnant as well as illogical.

"If I’ve not yet been clear enough - I condemn all acts of terror and all forms of racism."