(JTA) — A British lawmaker who was caught on camera describing an Israeli soldier as a “bloody Jew” resigned in the wake of a corruption scandal.
Patrick Mercer, of the Conservative Party, stepped down last week in advance of a report on the corruption probe that would have seem him suspended from Parliament for six months.
Mercer made the remark in June to a BBC reporter posing as a lobbyist. He told of entering an “intelligence establishment” during a recent Israel visit and facing a security guard.
“An 18-year-old girl, wearing a uniform, with her sort of hair in plaits, and crazy jewelry and open-toed sandals, with a rifle up my nose,” he said.
“Who the f*** are you, you know? ‘Well I’m a soldier.’ Are you? You don’t look like a soldier to me. You look like a bloody Jew,” Mercer said.
The corruption investigation, by the BBC and the Daily Telegraph, uncovered evidence that Mercer accepted payment from business interests to pose questions and advance motions in parliament.
A report by the House of Commons Standards Committee published Thursday found that Mercer caused significant damage to the reputation of the house and its members, the Guardian reported.
Mercer apologized for the “bloody Jew” remark, the report said.
He reportedly said, “I am married to a woman of Jewish extraction. I have lots of friends in the Jewish community, and, yes, I can prostrate myself no further, it’s just a stupid thing to say, and I didn’t even … I accept I said it, and I am conscious that my speech isn’t always as balanced as it should be.”
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