Ion, who is standing in Newcastle City Council’s Blakelaw and Cowgate ward, said isolated fragments of her statements had been used to “distort” her core values and said she had stated her solidarity with Jewish people throughout her life.
“My criticism is not directed at an ethnicity or a religion; it is directed at a political ideology and a set of state actions,” she said.
“The common denominator among those I criticise – from Zionist Jewish hardliners to Western supporters and our own government – is not their culture, but their active support for what the International Court of Justice has deemed a ‘plausible risk of genocide’.”
She acknowledged she had used “dehumanising language” after she claimed to have experienced “moments of raw, unshielded grief” when she watched live-streamed images of children being killed.
Ion also claimed the selected posts, which have been circulated online, were part of “a weaponised narrative designed to undermine” her and the Green Party.