Israeli deputy mayor of Jerusalem accused of stoking race riots in UK

The deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Arieh King, has been accused of attempting to stoke far-right riots and tensions in the UK after posting repeatedly about the violence in recent days.

On Sunday 4 August, as anti-Muslim and racist mob attacks wracked cities and towns across the UK, King posted a cartoon image showing a brown Muslim-looking man with a beard and skullcap embracing a white British police officer, who has his arms around the Muslim.

British journalist Aaron Bastani remarked that “if this was a Russian or Iranian account, and official, it would be covered by the media as overseas disinformation, foreign intervention, etc.”

Arieh King’s parents immigrated to Israel from England. He was elected to Jerusalem’s city council on the United Jerusalem party slate in 2020 and subsequently became deputy mayor the same year.