Despite the shock which accompanied it, there was an inevitability to the confrontation between Israel and Iran which took place over the skies of Syria and northern Israel last weekend. This may, moreover, be simply a harbinger of more – and worse – to come. The events unfolded in Read more…
Israel has been covertly launching strikes against Islamic State in Sinai as part of a two-year campaign secretly approved by Egypt, US media revealed last weekend. The airstrikes – carried out by unmarked Israeli warplanes, drones and helicopters – are estimated to be taking place at the rate of Read more…
The campaign to persuade the government to proscribe Hezbollah in its entirety will continue, LFI chair Joan Ryan has pledged following last week’s debate in parliament. At the end of the three-hour debate secured by Ms Ryan, Home Office minister Ben Wallace rejected calls from across the House to extend Read more…
LFI chair Joan Ryan will tomorrow lead a debate in the House of Commons calling on the government to proscribe Hezbollah in its entirety. The terror group’s military wing has been banned in the UK since 2001, but its so-called political wing is still legal. As Ms Ryan will argue Read more…
In an angry, some believe valedictory, address on Sunday evening, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, delivered a series of broadsides against Israel, rejected the nascent US peace plan and vowed to continue paying salaries to convicted Palestinian terrorists. Abbas’ speech drew sharp criticism from across the Israeli political spectrum, with Labor leader Read more…
The new year political unrest in Iran is not unprecedented. Three times in the last two decades, the Islamic regime has faced mass protests. In July 1999, students took to the streets to demand freedom of speech, while, 10 years later, the Green Movement saw demonstrations against the vote-rigging Read more…
Earlier this year, Mahmoud Abbas told President Trump: “We are raising our youth, our children, our grandchildren on a culture of peace.” It is not a claim that withstands much scrutiny. The Palestinian Authority which Abbas heads namessummer camps and schools after terrorists, and its official media pumps out a diet of antisemitic incitement, Read more…
Avi Gabbay’s recent appearance at the Saban Forum – an annual US gathering on Middle East policy – provided his most comprehensive statement on the peace process since becoming leader of the Labor party in July. In his remarks, Gabbay reiterated his support for a two-state solution, said it was time to end Read more…
Donald Trump announced this week that the United States would be formally recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, upending decades of US policy. In a brief White House address, the American president declared that formal recognition was “a recognition of reality” and the “right thing to do”. He was Read more…
The next Labour government will challenge antisemitic incitement by the Palestinian Authority, support the establishment of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and continue to oppose the BDS movement, the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, told this week’s annual LFI lunch. Ms Thornberry also repeated Labour’s pledge to recognise a Read more…
Iran is this week on the verge of completing its much-vaunted “arc of influence” – a land bridge connecting Tehran to the Mediterranean Sea and the border with Israel – with the capture of the Syrian border down of al-Bukamal, close to the frontier with Iraq. The Islamic republic’s Read more…
The sudden and dramatic resignation of Lebanon’s prime minister on Saturday graphically demonstrated the grip Iran – through its proxy Hezbollah – holds over the country. Saad Hariri, the son of assassinated prime minister Rafik Hariri, quit with an angry statement which fired a series of broadsides against the Islamic republic and Read more…