On the eve of the centenary of the Balfour Declaration, polling commissioned by a UK think tank has revealed support for Israel in Britain is at a seven-year high. The poll, carried out by Populus for BICOM, asked respondents for their views on a range of issues relating to Israel Read more…
Labour MPs hailed Britain’s contribution to the creation of the State of Israel in a Westminster Hall parliamentary debate this week. MPs were debating the 1917 Balfour Declaration, when Britain declared its support for the establishment of a Jewish national homeland in the land of Israel, ahead of its 100th anniversary Read more…
Joan Ryan MP, parliamentary chair of LFI, has written a reply to Richard Burden MP regarding a letter to Middle East minister Alistair Burt on the Gaza crisis. Ms Ryan writes that she shares Mr Burden’s concern for the humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip and agrees that the recent deterioration in Read more…
One week after its signing, the agreement reached between Hamas and Fatah last week – accompanied by pictures of handshakes between the two sides in Cairo and celebrations in the streets of Gaza – is already throwing up many unanswered questions. The deal formalised the previous agreement that the Palestinian Read more…
During October’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office questions in the House of Commons, LFI chair Joan Ryan MP questioned Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt MP on the threat Hezbollah poses to both Israel and the Middle East. Joan asked “does the Minister agree that Hezbollah poses a serious threat to Israel’s Read more…
The effort to broker a reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah returned to Cairo this week. This morning, it was announced that that the two sides had reached an agreement, and more negotiations would take place next week. At the outset of this latest round of talks between the two sides, which are being Read more…
This week’s warning by Hassan Nasrallah that Jews should flee Israel before it is devastated by war is just one of the Hezbollah leader’s many sabre-rattling utterances. In February, he warned that there would be “no red lines” in any future conflict between the terror group and Israel. In April, he Read more…
Labour should stand by its friends on the Israeli left, Labor MK Stav Shaffir told a packed LFI reception on Tuesday night. Ms Shaffir, a rising star in the Israeli Labor party, was in Brighton for the Labour party’s annual conference. “When sister-parties turn their backs at the progressive camp, they Read more…
In the 10 years since Hamas executed its bloody coup and seized control of Gaza, the terror group and President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement have attempted to patch up their differences on many occasions. But agreements aimed at restoring Palestinian unity at Mecca in 2007, Sana’a in 2008, Cairo Read more…
The link between anti-semitism and anti-Israel attitudes has been long debated and hotly contested. To some the connection is self-evident. Seeking to demonise and delegitimise Israel, to question the right to exist of the world’s only Jewish state to exist and to deny the Jews’ right to self-determination is the very essence Read more…
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is reaching crisis point. 96% of water in the enclave is unfit for human consumption, and the strip receives only four to six hours of electricity per day. A significant portion of the money pledged for reconstruction in Gaza after the 2014 war between Hamas and Israel has Read more…
The bland statements issued from Jerusalem, Ramallah and Washington last week gave no hint to the success of otherwise of the US’ latest attempt to push a peace initiative in the Middle East. Following talks last week in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Israel and Palestine by the Read more…