A CHARITY is under investigation for saying the suspension of 30 export licences to Israel was “obscene.”

The Charity Commission revealed that it is assessing a blogpost by the Campaign for Antisemitism (CAA) in a response to a complaint by former shadow chancellor John McDonnell.

The left MP last month wrote to the commission complaining that the CAA is “engaged in highly political and contentious public attacks on the government and individual government ministers.

“I was shocked at the tone of these public attacks coming from what is listed by the commission as a charity.”

Commission director of regulatory services Helen Earner’s response, shared with the Morning Star, stated: “Charities can carry out political activities if doing so furthers their objects.

“However, in relation to the new concern you have raised about recent political statements the CAA has published on its website, I have shared these with our operational teams who are assessing the comments made in line with our risk framework.

“The new assessment is solely focused on the charity’s September 2024 website statement.”

In September, The Foreign Office announced it was suspending some export licences to Israel due to the “clear risk” of Israel using them to violate international humanitarian law.

The day after, the CAA wrote: “The British government is broadcasting that Western allies should not be supplying Israel with the arms that it needs to fight to save the hostages and defeat Hamas. This is obscene.”

The left-wing group Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) has long called on the commission to revoke the CAA’s charitable status, saying it was a “highly politically partisan organisation” that had made “defamatory attacks” on former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Earlier this year, the commission said it was closing the investigation into the CAA following a “regulatory compliance exercise.”

Today JVL co-chair Jenny Manson welcomed the assessment, warning that the CAA’s comment contradicts what it was set up to do by “fuelling” anti-semitism.

“My instinct is that this is not worse than some of the CAA’s other comments and activities but it’s more clearly outside of their charity status,” she told the Morning Star.

“The CAA should have a serious internal review of what their charitable aims really are.

“What’s happening with their sort of conflation of criticism of Israel and antisemitism is that it … fuels anti-semitism.”

The CAA has been approached for comment.