LFI chair Joan Ryan was in Israel this week, reaffirming Labour’s strong ties to its sister party. Meeting Labor chairman Isaac Herzog at the Knesset, she expressed her intention to bring more Labour MPs to Israel over the next year. “In my experience, it is the way to ensure MPs can best attain a balanced understanding of the complexities and challenges Israel faces, and ensure we can support all those in both Israel and Palestine who are striving for peace, coexistence and a two-state solution,” she told Mr Herzog.
At the Knesset, she also met with Labor MKs Hilik Bar, Michal Biran, Erel Margalit, Yossi Yonah, Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin and Manuel Trajtenberg.
It was Joan Ryan’s fourth visit to Israel and her first since becoming chair of LFI in the summer.
During her visit, the former minister met politicians, academics, journalists and diplomats. During a meeting with Israel’s incoming ambassador to Britain, Mark Regev, she repeated her desire that the British government raise the issue of incitement with the Palestinian Authority.
Other meetings included those with British ambassador David Quarrey; Elias Zananiri, deputy chairman of the Palestinian Committee for Interaction; and Gadi Baltiansky, director general of the Geneva Initiative.