Latest News And Analysis
LFI Dame Louise Ellman Statement
Following Dame Louise Ellman’s decision to resign her membership of the Labour Party, LFI have released the following statement: Jennifer Gerber, director of LFI, said: “Louise Ellman has taken a characteristically brave and principled decision today. It highlights once again the institutional antisemitism which continues to shame the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn’s responsibility for[…]
Analysis: What Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds means for Israel
President Trump’s decision last week to abandon the Kurds and give the green light to Turkey’s invasion of north-eastern Syria has sent shockwaves through the Middle East, including in Israel. Even as the US now apparently scrambles to rein Turkey in, the impact of the president’s actions may be far-reaching. Israel has long been supportive[…]
Analysis: Hezbollah’s precision missile project menaces Israel
“The enemy is on the defensive — we have always been on the defensive, now we are in attack mode,” Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah (pictured), declared last week. Although he has often issued blood-curdling threats against Israel, this was no mere sabre-rattling by the terror group head. As a newly updated report from BICOM reveals, Hezbollah[…]
Analysis: Bibi teeters on the brink
Benjamin Netanyahu’s decade-long spell in power may be coming to an end. A pre-indictment hearing into charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust levelled against the Israeli prime minister commenced in Jerusalem today, as his attempts to form a government following inconclusive elections last month appeared close to collapse. The two issues are intimately[…]
LFI chair assails Labour antisemitism
Dame Louise Ellman has launched a strong attack on antisemitism in the Labour party. In her first major speech since becoming chair of Labour Friends of Israel, she said she understood and shared the fear of many Jews about Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister. Speaking at the LFI annual reception at the Labour party conference,[…]
Analysis: The end of Bibi? Israel’s deadlocked election
For once, the polls were right. They had suggested for months that Israel’s general election yesterday would end in stalemate. While counting is not yet complete, exit polls and the current official tallies point to the same deadlock which followed April’s inconclusive general election. The results represent a massive blow to Benjamin Netanyahu, who earlier[…]
Analysis: Desperate Bibi’s “election-stealing” bill blocked
A desperate Benjamin Netanyahu was this week thwarted in an attempt to push through the Knesset a controversial bill allowing party workers to bring cameras into polling stations. With polls showing the opposition Blue and White party narrowly edging ahead of the prime minister’s Likud party ahead of next week’s elections, Netanyahu had attempted to[…]
Analysis: Will Likud ditch Bibi if election ends in new stalemate?
With less than two weeks to go until polling day, Israel appears to be heading towards another general election stalemate – the second in less than six months. Polls this week show neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor his principal rival, Benny Gantz, have succeeded in opening a decisive lead. Instead, they give the prime minister’s Likud[…]
LFI Delegation to Israel and the Palestinian Territories – July 2019
Labour Friends of Israel took a group of centre-left parliamentarians on delegation to Israel and the Palestinian Territories at the end of July. The group was led by LFI chair Dame Louise Ellman MP, and included LFI honorary president Joan Ryan MP, Rosie Cooper MP, Steve McCabe MP, and Phil Wilson MP. The group began[…]
Dame Louise Ellman MP becomes chair of Labour Friends of Israel
Dame Louise Ellman is to become the new chair of Labour Friends of Israel, replacing Joan Ryan, who will assume the role of honorary president – a position once held by Harold Wilson, a similarly staunch supporter of Israel and ally of the Jewish community in Britain. Ms Ryan has deservedly built an international reputation[…]
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Our weekly update looking at the Middle East peace process, regional developments, domestic Israeli and Palestinian affairs and primary issues affecting UK policy on Israel
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We work closely with Labour parliamentarians to strengthen relations between Britain and Israel and to promote a vision of coexistence founded on peace and liberal democracy
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