THE Tories launched a crackdown this weekend on Labour councils who boycott Israel and the arms trade.

Communities Secretary Greg Clark moved to ban authorities from joining boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns, claiming that it cost British jobs and “poisoned” community relations.

“Divisive policies undermine good community relations, and harm the economic security of families by pushing up council tax,” said Mr Clark.

“We need to challenge and prevent the politics of division.”

Councils can currently refuse to spend public money on goods produced in occupied Palestine or invest pension funds in British arms manufacturers. 

Labour-run Leicester council passed a motion last year boycotting produce from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

But the Tories are now rewriting the rules to effectively ban what they have branded “municipal foreign and defence policies.”

In a briefing on their new policy, the Tories went further by accusing trade unions and campaigners of “fuelling anti-semitism.”

Under the headline Dangerous Consequences of Hard-Left Policies the briefing states that BDS campaigns “threaten to inflame tensions in local communities, undermining integration and fuelling broader anti-semitism.”

But the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) vowed to “vigorously oppose” any attempt to prevent councils from “opposing violations of human rights, international law, peace and justice.”

PSC spokeswoman Sara App said that the Tories were guilty of anti-semitism by equating Jewish people with the state of Israel.

“It’s a misjudgement of the government to conflate the actions of the Israeli state with the British Jewish communities,” she told the Star.

“When people confuse Judaism with Israeli violations of international law, that is a form of anti-semitism.”

She added: “All states should be judged in the same way — by how they comply with international law and uphold human rights and freedoms.”

The government said it had imposed trade restrictions when necessary, but has refused to take action against Israel.

Mr Clark also complained that the BDS campaign put Britain’s £22 billion-a-year defence industry at risk.

Campaign Against Arms Trade spokesman Andrew Smith said: “The last Tory-led government sold £4.5bn of weapons to countries on its own humanitarian ‘causes of concern’ list. Surely that’s the issue they should be addressing.”