The Knesset last night passed the first reading of key elements of the Netanyahu government’s judicial reform package, despite widespread protests, polling showing strong public opposition, and calls by President Isaac Herzog for a delay and negotiations. The legislation was passed by 63-47. However some MKs, including the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, Read more…
LFI vice-chair Catherine McKinnell MP has written the below article for JewishNews. Click here to read the original. Last week, I travelled to Israel for the first time as part of a delegation organised by Labour Friends of Israel. As we heard repeatedly, our trip comes at a time when the Read more…
Two children and a 20-year-old student died in a terrorist attack in northern Jerusalem on Friday when a car was driven into a crowd waiting at a bus stop. The attack brought to 10 the number of Israeli civilians killed by terrorists in the last two weeks. The two children who Read more…
The Netanyahu government’s controversial judicial reforms have begun their passage through the Knesset this week – amid a national strike, huge demonstrations and an unprecedented appeal from President Isaac Herzog for the current plans to be abandoned. What happened More than 100,000 Israelis rallied at the Knesset on Monday Read more…
Over 100,000 Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday as mass protests against the Netanyahu government’s controversial judicial reforms enter their sixth week. Demonstrations took place throughout the country, but, as before, Israel’s second city saw the biggest crowds. As the protests continued, President Isaac Herzog attempted Read more…
The biggest Labour Friends of Israel delegation in more than a decade this week met with the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog. The delegation also met with Israeli Labor party leader Merav Michaeli; Tzachi Hanegbi, the head of the National Security Council; and the Palestinian Authority’s deputy foreign minister Amal Jadou. LFI chair Steve Read more…
Fifty former top civil servants – including some who served under Benjamin Netanyahu for years – have launched a strong attack on the new government’s controversial judicial reforms. A letter this week – which includes the names of former heads of the Prime Minister’s Office, Finance Ministry, Competition Authority and Read more…
More than half of the Israeli public would like to see a meeting between prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, according to a poll commissioned by the Geneva Initiative Israel NGO. When asked whether Israel should enter political talks with the PA, 52.8 percent said yes, Read more…
Saudi Arabia will not normalise ties with Israel without progress towards a two-state solution with the Palestinians, the kingdom’s top diplomat asserted last week. The comments by Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, followed reported discussion of the topic between Israeli prime minister Read more…
Over 100,000 Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night amid rising opposition to controversial judicial reforms proposed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government. What happened The protests, which also saw smaller demonstrations across the country, came as the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, was said to be considering Read more…
Today, LFI chair Steve McCabe MP and LFI Lords chair Baroness Ramsay have written to the Israeli Ambassador, Tzipi Hotovely, to express their concern about the appointment of certain ministers to the new coalition government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. In the letter, Steve and Meta make clear that their Read more…
The Moroccan military announced this week that it had agreed to strengthen military cooperation with Israel, including in intelligence and cybersecurity, following defence meetings in Rabat. The two countries “agreed to further strengthen cooperation and expand it to other areas, including in intelligence, air defence and electronic warfare”, a Read more…